THE CRAIG KENNEDY SERIES

THE ROMANCE OF ELAINE

A DETECTIVE NOVEL

Sequel to the "Exploits"

BY

ARTHUR B. REEVE

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

 I THE SERPENT SIGN

 II THE CRYPTIC RING

 III THE WATCHING EYE

 IV THE VENGEANCE OF WU FANG

 V THE SHADOWS OF WAR

 VI THE LOST TORPEDO

 VII THE GRAY FRIAR

VIII THE VANISHING MAN

 IX THE SUBMARINE HARBOR

 X THE CONSPIRATORS

 XI THE WIRELESS DETECTIVE

 XII THE DEATH CLOUD

XIII THE SEARCHLIGHT GUN

 XIV THE LIFE CHAIN

 XV THE FLASH

 XVI THE DISAPPEARING HELMETS

XVII THE TRIUMPH OF ELAINE

THE ROMANCE OF ELAINE

CHAPTER I

THE SERPENT SIGN

Rescued by Kennedy at last from the terrible incubus of Bennett'spersecution in his double life of lawyer and master criminal, Elaine had, for the first time in many weeks, a feeling ofsecurity. 

Now that the strain was off, however, she felt that she neededrest and a chance to recover herself and it occurred to her that afew quiet days with "Aunt" Tabitha, who had been her nurse whenshe was a little girl, would do her a world of good. 

She sent for Aunt Tabby, yet the fascination of the experiencesthrough which she had just gone still hung over her. She could notresist thinking and reading about them, as she sat, one morning, with the faithful Rusty in the conservatory of the Dodge house. 

I had told the story at length in the Star, and the heading overit caught her eye. 

It read:

 THE CLUTCHING HAND DEAD

 ------

 Double Life Exposed by Craig Kennedy

 Perry Bennett, the Famous Young Lawyer, Takes Poison--Kennedy Now on Trail of Master Criminal's Hidden Millions. 

 ----

As Elaine glanced down the column, Jennings announced that AuntTabby, as she loved to call her old friend, had arrived, and wasnow in the library with Aunt Josephine. 

With an exclamation of delight, Elaine dropped the paper and, followed by Rusty, almost ran into the library. 

Aunt Tabby was a stout, elderly, jolly-faced woman, precisely thesort whom Elaine needed to watch over her just now. 

"Oh, I'm so glad to see you, " half laughed Elaine as she literallyflung herself into her nurse's arms. "I feel so unstrung--and Ithought that if I could just run off for a few days with you andJoshua in the country where no one would know, it might make mefeel better. You have always been so good to me. Marie! Are mythings packed? Very well. Then, get my wraps. "

Her maid left the room. 

"Bless your soul, " mothered Aunt Tabby stroking her soft goldenhair, "I'm always glad to have you in that fine house you boughtme. And, faith, Miss Elaine, the house is a splendid place to restin but I don't know what's the matter with it lately. Joshua saysits haunts--"

"Haunts?" repeated Elaine in amused surprise. "Why, what do youmean?"

Marie entered with the wraps before Aunt Tabby could reply andJennings followed with the baggage. 

"Nonsense, " continued Elaine gaily, as she put on her coat, andturned to bid Aunt Josephine good-bye. "Good-bye, Tabitha, " saidher real aunt. "Keep good care of my little girl. "

"That I will, " returned the nurse. "We don't have all thesetroubles out in the country that you city folks have. "

Elaine went out, followed by Rusty and Jennings with the luggage. 

"Now for a long ride in the good fresh air, " sighed Elaine as sheleaned back on the cushions of the Dodge limousine and pattedRusty, while the butler stowed away the bags. 

The air certainly did, if anything, heighten the beauty of Elaineand at last they arrived at Aunt Tabby's, tired and hungry. 

The car stopped and Elaine, Aunt Tabby and the dog got out. There, waiting for them, was "Uncle" Joshua, as Elaine playfully calledhim, a former gardener of the Dodges, now a plain, honestcountryman on whom the city was fast encroaching, a jolly oldfellow, unharmed by the world. 

Aunt Tabby's was an attractive small house, not many miles fromNew York, yet not in the general line of suburban travel. 

 . . . . . . . 

Kennedy and I had decided to bring Bennett's papers and documentsover to the laboratory to examine them. We were now engaged ingoing over the great mass of material which he had collected, inthe hope of finding some clue to the stolen millions which he musthave amassed as a result of his villainy. The table was stackedhigh. 

A knock at the door told us that the expressman had arrived and amoment later he entered, delivering a heavy box. Kennedy signedfor it and started to unpack it. 

I was hard at work, when I came across a large manila envelopecarefully sealed, on which were written the figures "$7, 000, 000. "Too excited even to exclaim, I tore the envelope open and examinedthe contents. 

Inside was another envelope. I opened that. It contained merely ablank piece of paper!

With characteristic skill at covering his tracks, Bennett had alsocovered his money. Puzzled, I turned the paper over and over, looking at it carefully. It was a large sheet of paper, but itshowed nothing. 

"Huh!" I snorted to myself, "confound him. "

Yet I could not help smiling at my own folly, a minute later, inthinking that the Clutching Hand would leave any information insuch an obvious place as an envelope. I threw the paper into awire basket on the desk and went on sorting the other stuff. 

Kennedy had by this time finished unpacking the box, and wasexamining a bottle which he had taken from it. 

"Come here, Walter, " he called at length. "Ever see anything likethat?"

"I can't say, " I confessed, getting up to go to him. "What is it?"

"Bring a piece of paper. " he added. 

I went back to the desk where I had been working and looked abouthastily. My eye fell on the blank sheet of paper which I had takenfrom Bennett's envelope, and I picked it up from the basket. 

"Here's one, " I said, handing it to him. "What are you doing?"

Kennedy did not answer directly, but began to treat the paper withthe liquid from the bottle. Then he lighted a Bunsen burner andthrust the paper into the flame. The paper did not burn!

"A new system of fire-proofing, " laughed Craig, enjoying myastonishment. 

He continued to hold the paper in the flame. Still it did notburn. 

"See?" he went on, withdrawing it, and starting to explain theproperties of the new fire-proofer. 

He had scarcely begun, when he stopped in surprise. He hadhappened to glance at the paper again, bent over to examine itmore intently, and was now looking at it in surprise. 

I looked also. There, clearly discernible on the paper, was asmall part of what looked like an architect's drawing of afireplace. 

Craig looked up at me, nonplussed. "Where did you say you gotthat?" he asked. 

"It was a blank piece of paper among Bennett's effects, " Ireturned, as mystified as he, pointing at the littered desk atwhich I had been working. 

Kennedy said nothing, but thrust the paper back again into theflame. Slowly, the heat of the burner seemed to bring out thecomplete drawing of the fireplace. 

We looked at it, even more mystified. "What is it, do yousuppose?" I queried. 

"I think, " he replied slowly, "that it was drawn with sympatheticink. The heat of the burner brought it out into sight. "

What was it about?

 . . . . . . . 

Elaine had gone to bed that night at Aunt Tabby's in the roomwhich her old nurse had fixed up especially for her. It was a veryattractive little room with dainty chintz curtains and covers andfor the first time in many weeks Elaine slept soundly andfearlessly. 

Down-stairs, in the living-room, Rusty also was asleep, his nosebetween his paws. 

The living-room was in keeping with everything at Aunt Tabby's, plain, neat, homelike. On one side was a large fireplace that gaveto it an air of quaint hospitality. 

Suddenly Rusty woke up, his ears pointed at this fireplace. Hestood a moment, listening, then, with a bark of alarm he spedswiftly from the living-room, up the stairs at a bound, until hecame to Elaine's room. 

Elaine felt his cold nose at her hand and stirred, then awoke. 

"What is it, Rusty?" she asked, mindful of the former days whenRusty gave warning of the Clutching Hand and his emissaries. 

Rusty wagged his tail. Something was wrong. 

Elaine followed him down to the living-room. She went over andlighted the electric lamp on the table, then turned to Rusty. 

"Well, Rusty?" she asked, almost as if he were human. 

She had no need to repeat the question. Rusty was looking straightat the fireplace. 

Elaine listened. Sure enough, she heard strange noises. Was thatAunt Tabby's "haunt"? Whatever it was, it sounded as if it came upfrom the very depths of the earth. 

She could not make out just what it sounded like. It might havebeen some one striking a piece of iron, a bolt, with a sledge. 

What was it?

She continued to listen in wonder, then ran to Aunt Tabby'sbedroom door, on the first floor, and knocked. 

Aunt Tabby woke up and shook Joshua. 

"Aunt Tabby! Aunt Tabby!" called Elaine. 

"Yes, my dear, " answered the old nurse, now fully awake andstraightening her nightcap. "Joshua!"

Together the old couple came out into the living-room, still intheir nightclothes, Joshua yawning sleepily still. 

"Listen!" whispered Elaine. 

There was the noise again. This time it was more as though someone were beating a rat-tat-tat with something on a rock. It wasweird, uncanny, as all stood there, none knowing where the strangenoises came from. 

"It's the haunts!" cried Aunt Tabby, trembling a bit. "For threenights now we've been hearing these noises. "

Around and around the room they walked, still trying to locate thestrange sounds. Were they under the floor? It was impossible tosay. They gave it up and stood there, looking blankly at eachother. Was it the work of human or superhuman hands?

Finally Joshua went to a table drawer and opened it. He took out ahuge, murderous-looking revolver. 

"Here, Miss Elaine, " he urged, pressing it on her, "take this--keep it near you!"

The noises ceased at length, as strangely as they had begun. 

Half an hour later, they had all gone back to bed and were asleep. But Elaine's sleep now was fitful, a constant procession of facesflitted before her closed eyes. 

Suddenly, she woke with a start and stared into the semi-darkness. Was that face real, or a dream face? Was it the hideous helmetedface that had dragged her down into the sewer once? That man wasdead. Who was this?

She gazed at the bedroom window, holding the huge revolvertightly. There, vague in the night light, appeared a figure. Surely that was no dream face of the oxygen helmet. Besides, itwas not the same helmet. 

She sat bolt upright and fired, pointblank, at the window, shivering the glass. A second later she had leaped from the bed, switched on the lights and was running to the sill. 

Down-stairs, Aunt Tabby and Uncle Joshua had heard the shot. Joshua was now wide awake. He seized his old shotgun and ran outinto the livingroom. Followed by Aunt Tabby, he hurried to Elaine. 

"Wh-what was it?" he asked, puffing at the exertion of running up-stairs. 

"I saw--a face--at the window--with some kind of thing over it!"gasped Elaine. "It was like one I saw once before. "

Uncle Joshua did not wait to hear any more. With the gun pointedahead of him, ready for instant action, he ran out of the room andinto the garden, beneath Elaine's window. 

He looked about for signs of an intruder. There was not a sound. No one was about, here. 

"I don't see any one, " he called up to Elaine and Atint Tabby inthe window. 

He happened to look down at the ground. Before him was a smallbox. He picked it up. 

"Here's something, though, " he said. 

Joshua went back into the house. 

"What is it?" asked Elaine as he rejoined the women. 

She took the curious little box and unfastened the cover. As sheopened it, she drew back. There in the box was a little ivoryfigure of a man, all hunched up and shrunken, a hideous figure. She recoiled from it--it reminded her too much of the Chinesedevil-god she had seen, --and she dropped the box. 

For a moment all stood looking at it in horrified amazement. 

 . . . . . . . 

It was the afternoon following the day of our strange discovery ofthe fireplace done in sympathetic ink on the apparently blanksheet of paper in Bennett's effects, when the speaking-tubesounded and I answered it. 

"Why--it's Elaine, " I exclaimed. 

Kennedy's face showed the keenest pleasure at the unexpectedvisit. "Tell her to come right up, " he said quickly. 

I opened the door for her. 

"Why--Elaine--I'm awfully glad to see you, " he greeted, "but Ithought you were rusticating. "

"I was, but, Craig, it seems to me that wherever I go, somethinghappens, " she returned. "You know, Aunt Tabby said there werehaunts. I thought it was an old woman's fear--but last night Iheard the strangest noises out there, and I thought I saw a faceat the window--a face in a helmet. And when Joshua went out, thisis what he found on the ground under my window. "

She handed Kennedy a box, a peculiar affair which she touchedgingerly and only with signs of the greatest aversion. 

Kennedy opened it. There, in the bottom of the box, was a littleivory devil-god. He looked at it curiously a moment. 

"Let me see, " he ruminated, still regarding the sign. "The houseyou bought for Aunt Tabby, once belonged to Bennett, didn't it?"

Elaine nodded her head. "Yes, but I don't see what that can haveto do with it, " she agreed, adding with a shudder, "Bennett isdead. "

Kennedy had taken a piece of paper from the desk where he had putit away carefully. "Have you ever seen anything that looks likethis?" he asked, handing her the paper. 

Elaine looked at the plan carefully, as Kennedy and I scanned herface. She glanced up, her expression showing plainly the wondershe felt. 

"Why, yes, " she answered. "That looks like Aunt Tabby's fireplacein the living-room. "

Kennedy said nothing for a moment. Then he seized his hat andcoat. 

"If you don't mind, " he said, "we'll go back there with you. "

"Mind?" she repeated. "Just what I had hoped you would do. "

 . . . . . . . 

Wu Fang, the Chinese master mind, had arrived in New York. 

Beside Wu, the inscrutable, Long Sin, astute though he was, was amere pigmy--his slave, his advance agent, as it were, a tentaclesent out to discover the most promising outlet for the nefarioustalents of his master. 

New York did not know of the arrival of Wu Fang, the mysterious--yet. But down in the secret recesses of Chinatown, in the waysthat are devious and dark, the oriental crooks knew--and trembled. 

Thus it happened that Long Sin was not permitted to enjoy even theforetaste of Bennett's spoils which he had forced from him afterhis weird transformation into his real self, the Clutching Hand, when the Chinaman had given him the poisoned draught that had puthim into his long sleep. 

He had obtained the paper showing where the treasure amassed bythe Clutching Hand was hidden, but Wu Fang, his master, had come. 

Wu had immediately established himself in the most sumptuous ofapartments, hidden behind the squalid exterior of the ordinarytenement building in Chinatown. 

The night following his arrival, Wu Fang was reclining on a divan, when his servant announced that Long Sin was at the door. 

As Long Sin entered, it was evident that, cunning and shrewdthough he was himself, Wu was indeed his master. He approached infear and awe, cringing low. 

"Have you brought the map with you?" asked Wu. 

Long Sin bowed low again, and drew from under his coat the paperwhich he had obtained from Bennett. For a moment the two, masterand slave in guile, bent over, closely studying it. 

At one point in the map Long Sin's bony finger paused over a notewhich Bennett had made:

BEWARE POISONED GAS UPON OPENING COMPARTMENT. 

"And you think you can trace it out?" asked Wu. 

"Without a doubt, " bowed Long Sin. 

He went over to a bag near-by, which he had already sent up byanother servant, and opened it. Inside was an oxygen helmet. Hereplaced it, after showing it to Wu. 

"With the aid of the science of the white devil, we shall overcomethe science of the white devil, " purred Long Sin subtly. 

Outside, Wu had already ordered a car to wait, and together thetwo drove off rapidly. Into the country, they sped, until at lastthey came to a lonely turn in a lonely road, somewhat removed fromthe section that was rapidly being built up as population reachedout from the city, but on a single-tracked trolley line. 

Long Sin alighted and disappeared with a parting word ofinstruction from Wu who remained in the car. The Chinaman carriedwith him the heavy bag with the oxygen helmet. 

Along this interurban trolley the cars made only half-hourly tripsat this time of night. Long Sin hurried down the road until hecame to a trolley pole, then looked hastily at his watch. It wastwenty minutes at least before the next car would pass. 

Quickly, almost monkey-like, he climbed up the pole, carrying withhim the end of a wire which he had taken from the bag. 

Having thrown this over the feed wire, he slid quickly to theground again. Then, carrying the other end of the wire in hisrubber-gloved hands, he made his way through the underbrush, inand out, almost like the serpent he was, until he came to apassageway in the rough and uncleared hillside--a small openingformed by the rocks. 

It was dark inside, but he did not hesitate to enter, carrying thewire and the bag with him. 

 . . . . . . . 

It was nightfall before we arrived with Elaine at Aunt Tabby's. Weentered the living-room and Elaine introduced us both to AuntTabby and her husband. 

It was difficult to tell whether Elaine's old nurse was more gladto see her than the faithful Rusty who almost overwhelmed her evenafter so short an absence. 

In the midst of the greetings, I took occasion to look over theliving-room. It was a very cozy room, simply and tastefullyfurnished, and I fancied that I could see in the neatness of AuntTabby a touch of Elaine's hand, for she had furnished it for herfaithful old friend. 

I followed Kennedy's eyes, and saw that he was looking at thefireplace. Sure enough, it was the same in design as the fireplacewhich the heat had so unexpectedly brought out in sympathetic inkon the blank sheet of paper. 

Kennedy lost no time in examining it, and we crowded around him ashe went over it inch by inch, following the directions on thedrawing. 

At one point in the drawing a peculiar protuberance was marked. Kennedy was evidently hunting for that. He found it at last andpressed the sort of lever in several ways. Nothing seemed tohappen. But finally, almost by chance, he seemed to discover thesecret. 

A small section at the side of the fireplace opened up, disclosingan iron ladder, leading down into one of those characteristichiding-places in which the Clutching Hand used to delight. 

Kennedy looked at the mysterious opening some time, as if tryingto fathom the mystery. 

"Let's go down and explore it, " I suggested, taking a step towardthe ladder. 

Kennedy reached out and pulled me back. Then without a word hepressed the little lever and the door closed. 

"I think we'd better wait a while, Walter, " he decided. "I wouldrather hear Aunt Tabby's haunts myself. "

He carefully went over not only the rest of the house but thegrounds about it, without discovering anything. 

Aunt Tabby, with true country hospitality, seemed unable toreceive guests without feeding them, and, although we had had abig dinner at a famous road-house on the way out, still none of uscould find it in our hearts to refuse her hospitality. Even thatdiversion, however, did not prevent us from talking of nothingelse but the strange noises, and I think, as we waited, we all gotinto the frame of mind which would have manufactured them even ifthere had been none. 

We were sitting about the room when suddenly the most weird anduncanny rappings began. Rusty was on his feet in a moment, barkinglike mad. We looked from one to another. 

It was impossible to tell where the noises came from, or even todescribe them. They were certainly not ghostly rappings. In fact, they sounded more like some twentieth century piece of machinery. 

We listened a moment, then Kennedy walked over to the fireplace. "You can explore it with me now, Walter, " he said quietly, touching the lever and opening the panel which disclosed theladder. 

He started down the ladder and I followed closely. Elaine wasabout to join us, when Kennedy paused on the topmost round andlooked up at her. 

"No, no, young lady, " he said with mock severity, "you have beenthrough enough already--you stay where you are. "

Elaine argued and begged but Kennedy was obdurate. It was onlywhen Aunt Tabby and Joshua added their entreaties that sheconsented reluctantly to remain. 

Together, Craig and I descended into the darkness about eight orten feet. There we found a passageway, excavated through the earthand rock, along which we crept. It was crooked and uneven, and westumbled, but kept going slowly ahead. 

Kennedy, who was a few feet in front of me, stopped suddenly and Ialmost fell over him. 

"What is it?" I whispered. 

 . . . . . . . 

Long Sin had made his way from the opening of the cave to thepoint on the plan which was marked by a cross, and there he hadset up his electric drill which was connected to the trolley wire. He was working furiously to take advantage of the fifteen minutesor so before the next car would pass. 

The tunnel had been widened out at this point into a smallsubterranean chamber. It was dug out of the earth and the roof wasroughly propped up, most of the weight being borne by one mainwooden prop which, in the dampness, had now become old and rotten. 

On one side it was evident that Long Sin had already been at work, digging and drilling through the earth and rock. He had gone sofar now that he had disclosed what looked like the face of a smallsafe set directly into the rock. 

As he worked he would stop from time to time and consult the map. Then he would take up drilling again. 

He had now come to the point on which Bennett had written hiswarning. Quickly he opened the bag and took out the oxygen helmet, which he adjusted carefully over his head. Then he set to workwith redoubled energy. 

It was that drill as well as his pounding on the rock which had soalarmed Elaine and Aunt Tabby the night before and which now hadbeen the signal for Kennedy's excursion of discovery. 

 . . . . . . . 

Our man, whoever he was, must have heard us approaching down thetunnel, for he paused in his work and the noise of the drillceased. 

He looked about a moment, then went over to the prop and examinedit, looking up at the roof of the chamber above him. Evidently hefeared that it was not particularly strong. 

From our vantage point around the bend in the passageway we couldsee this strange and uncouth figure. 

"Who is it, do you think?" I whispered, crouching back against thewall for fear that he might look even around a corner or throughthe earth and discover us. 

As I spoke, my hand loosened a piece of rock that jutted out andbefore I knew it there was a crash. 

"Confound it, Walter, " exclaimed Kennedy. 

Down the passageway the figure was now thoroughly on the alert, staring with his goggle-like eyes into the blackness in ourdirection. It was not the roof above him that was unsafe. He waswatched, and he did not hesitate a minute to act. 

He seized the bag and picked his way quickly through the passageas if thoroughly familiar with every turn of the walls androughness of the floor. 

We were discovered and if we were to accomplish anything, it wasnow or never. 

Kennedy dashed forward and I followed close after him. 

We were making much better time than our strange visitor and weregaining on him rapidly. Nearer and nearer we came to him, for, inspite of his familiarity with the cavern he was hampered by theoutlandish head-gear that he wore. 

It was only another instant, when Kennedy would have laid hishands on him. 

Suddenly he half turned, raised his arm and dashed something tothe earth much as a child explodes a toy torpedo. I fully expectedthat it was a bomb; but, as a moment later, I found that Kennedyand I were still unharmed, I knew that it must be some otherproduct of this devilish genius. 

The thickest and most impenetrable smoke seemed to pervade thenarrow cavern!

"A Chinese smoke bomb!" sputtered and coughed Kennedy, as heretreated a minute, then with renewed vigor endeavored topenetrate the dense and opaque fumes. 

We managed to go ahead still, but the intruder had exploded oneafter another of his peculiar bombs, always keeping ahead of thesmoke which he created, and we found that under its cover he hadmade good his escape, probably reaching the entrance of the cavein the underbrush. 

At the other end of the passageway, up in the living-room of thecottage, the draught had carried large quantities of the smoke. Elaine, Aunt Tabby and Joshua coughing and choking, saw it, andopened a window, which seemed to cause a current of air to sweepthrough the whole length of the passageway and helped to clearaway the fumes rapidly. 

Long Sin, meanwhile, had started to work his way through thebushes to reach the waiting car, with Wu, then paused andlistened. Hearing no sound, he replaced the helmet which he hadtaken off. 

Pursuit was now useless for us. With revolvers drawn, we creptback along the passageway until we came again to the chamberitself. There, on the floor, lay a bag of tools, opened, as thoughsomebody had been working with them. 

"Caught red-handed!" exclaimed Kennedy with great satisfaction. 

He looked at the tools a minute and then at the electric drill, and finally an idea seemed to strike him. He took up the drill andadvanced toward the safe. Then he turned on the current andapplied the drill. 

The drill was of the very latest design and it went quicklythrough the steel. But beyond that there was another thin steelpartition. This Kennedy tackled next. 

The drill went through and he withdrew it. 

Instantly the most penetrating and nauseous odor seemed to pervadeeverything. 

Kennedy cried out. But his warning was too late. We staggeredback, overcome by the escaping gas and fell to the ground. 

 . . . . . . . 

Long Sin, with his oxygen helmet on again, had returned to thepassageway and was now stealthily creeping back. 

He came to the chamber and there discovered us lying on theground, overcome. He bent down and, to his great satisfaction, sawthat we were really unconscious. 

Quickly he moved over to the safe and pried open the last thinsteel plate. 

Inside was a small box. He picked it up and tried to open it, butit was locked. There was no time to work over it here, and he tookit under his arm and started to leave. 

He paused a moment to look at us, then took out a piece of paperand a pencil and on the paper wrote, "Thanks for your trouble. "Beneath, it was signed by his special stamp--the serpent's head, mouth open and fangs showing. 

Long Sin looked at us a moment, then a subtle smile seemed tospread over his face. At last he had us in his power. 

He drew out a long, wicked-looking Chinese knife and stuck itthrough the note. 

Then he felt the edge of the knife. It was keen. 

 . . . . . . . 

In the sitting-room, Elaine, Aunt Tabby and Joshua had beenlistening intently at the fireplace but heard nothing. 

They were now getting decidedly worried. Finally, the fumes whichwe had released made their way to the room. They were considerablydiluted by fresh air by that time, but, although they werenauseous, were not sufficient to overcome any one. Still, thesmell was terrible. 

"I can't stand it any longer, " cried Elaine. "I'm going down thereto see what has become of them. "

Aunt Tabby and Joshua tried to stop her, but she broke away fromthem and went down the ladder. Rusty leaped down after her. 

Joshua tried to follow, but Aunt Tabby held him back. He wouldhave gone, too, if she had not managed to strike the spring andshut the door, closing up the passageway. 

Joshua got angry then. "You are making a coward of me, " he cried, beating on the panel with the butt of his gun and struggling toopen it. 

He seemed unable to fathom the secret. 

Elaine was now making her way as rapidly as she could through thetunnel, with Rusty beside her. 

 . . . . . . . 

It was just as Long Sin had raised his knife that the sound of herfootsteps alarmed him. 

He paused and leaped to his feet. 

There was no time for either to retreat. He started toward Elaine, and seized her roughly. 

Back and forth over the rocky floor they struggled. As theyfought, --she with frantic strength, he craftily, --he backed herslowly up against the prop that upheld the roof. 

He raised his keen knife. 

She recoiled. The prop, none too strong, suddenly gave way underher weight. 

The whole roof of the chamber fell with a crash, earth and stoneoverwhelming Elaine and her assailant. 

 . . . . . . . 

By this time Joshua had left the house and had gone out into thegarden to get something to pry open the fireplace door. 

Of a sudden, to his utter amazement, a few feet from him, itseemed as if the very earth sank in his garden, leaving a yawningchasm. 

He looked, unable to make it out. 

Before his very eyes a strange figure, the figure of Long Sin inhis oxygen helmet, appeared, struggling up, as if by magic fromthe very earth, shaking the debris off himself, as a dog wouldshake off the water after a plunge in a pond. 

Long Sin was gone in a moment. 

Then again the earth began to move. A paw appeared, then a sharpblack nose, and a moment later, Rusty, too, dug himself out. 

Joshua had run into the house to get a spade when Rusty, like ashot, bolted for the house, took the window at a leap and allcovered with earth landed before Joshua and Aunt Tabby. 

"See!--he went down there--now he's here!" cried Aunt Tabby, pointing at the fireplace, then looking at the window. 

Rusty was running back and forth from Joshua to the window. 

"Follow him!" cried Aunt Tabby. 

Rusty led the way back again to the garden, to the cave-in. 

"Elaine!" gasped Aunt Tabby. 

By this time Joshua was digging furiously. Rusty, too, seemed tounderstand. He threw back the earth with his paws, helping withevery ounce of strength in his little body. 

At last the spade turned up a bit of cloth. 

"Elaine!" Aunt Tabby cried out again. 

She was in a sort of little pocket, protected by the fortunateformation of the earth as it fell, yet almost suffocated, weak butconscious. 

Aunt Tabby rushed up as Joshua laid down the spade and lifted outElaine. 

They were about to carry her into the house, when she criedweakly, but with all her remaining strength. 

"No--no--Dig! Craig--Walter!" she managed to gasp. 

Rusty, too, was still at it. Joshua fell to again. Man and dogworked with a will. 

"There they are!" cried Elaine, as all three pulled us out, unconscious but still alive. 

Though we did not know it, they carried us into the house, whileElaine and Aunt Tabby bustled about to get something to revive us. 

At last I opened my eyes and saw the motherly Aunt Tabby bendingover me. Craig was already revived, weak but ready now to doanything Elaine ordered, as she held his hand and stroked hisforehead softly. 

 . . . . . . . 

Meanwhile Long Sin had made his way to the automobile where hismaster, Wu, waited impatiently. 

"Did you get it?" asked Wu eagerly. 

Long Sin showed him the box. 

"Hurry, master!" he cried breathlessly, leaping into the car andstruggling to take off the helmet as they drove away. "They may behere--at any moment. "

The machine was off like a shot and even if we had been able tofollow, we could not now have caught it. 

Back in Wu's sumptuous apartment, later, Wu and his slave, LongSin, after their hurried ride, dismissed all the servants andplaced the little box on the table. Wu rose and locked the door. 

Then, together, they took a sharp instrument and tried to pry offthe lid of the box. 

The lid flew off. They gazed in eagerly. 

Inside was a smaller box, which Wu seized eagerly and opened. 

There, on the plush cushion lay merely a round knobbed ring!

Was this the end of their great expectations? Were Bennett'smillions merely mythical?

The two stared at each other in chagrin. 

Wu was the first to speak. 

"Where there should have been seven million dollars, " he mutteredto himself, "why is there only a mystic ring?"

CHAPTER II

THE CRYPTIC RING

Kennedy had been engaged for some time in the only work outside ofthe Dodge case which he had consented to take for weeks. 

Our old friend, Dr. Leslie, the Coroner, had appealed to him tosolve a very ticklish point in a Tong murder case which had setall Chinatown agog. It was, indeed, a very bewildering case. AChinaman named Li Chang, leader of the Chang Wah Tong, had beenpoisoned, but so far no one had been able to determine what poisonit was or even to prove that there had been a poison, except forthe fact that the man was dead, and Kennedy had taken the thing upin a great measure because of the sudden turn in the Dodge casewhich had brought us into such close contact with the Chinese. 

I had been watching Kennedy with interest, for the Tong warsalways make picturesque newspaper stories, when a knock at thedoor announced the arrival of Dr. Leslie, anxious for some result. 

"Have you been able to find out anything yet?" he greeted Kennedyeagerly as Craig looked up from his microscope. 

Kennedy turned and nodded. "Your dead man was murdered by means ofaconite, of which, you know, the active principle is the deadlyalkaloid aconitine. "

Craig pulled down from the shelf above him one of his well-thumbedstandard works on toxicology. He turned the pages and read:

"Pure aconite is probably the most actively poisonous substancewith which we are acquainted. It does not produce any decidedlycharacteristic post-mortem appearances, and, in fact, there is noreliable chemical test to prove its presence. The chances of itsdetection in the body after death are very slight. "

Dr. Leslie looked up. "Then there is no test, none?" he asked. 

"There is one that is brand new, " replied Kennedy slowly. "It isthe new starch-grain test just discovered by Professor Reichert, of the University of Pennsylvania. The peculiarities of the starchgrains of various plants are quite as great as those of the bloodcrystals, which, you will recall, Walter, we used once. 

"The starch grains of the poison have remained in the wound. Ihave recovered them from the dead man's blood and have studiedthem microscopically. They can be definitely recognized. This isplainly a case of aconite poisoning--probably suggested to theOriental mind by the poison arrows of the Ainus of NorthernJapan. "

Dr. Leslie and I both looked through the microscope, comparing thestarch grains which Kennedy had discovered with those of scores ofmicro-photographs which lay scattered over the table. 

"There are several treatments for aconite poisoning, " ruminatedKennedy. "I would say that one of the latest and best is digitalingiven hypodermically. " He took down a bottle of digitalin from acabinet, adding, "only it was too late in this case. "

 . . . . . . . 

Just what the relations were between Long Sin and the Chong WahTong I have never been able to determine exactly. But one thingwas certain: Long Sin on his arrival in New York had offended theTong and now that his master, Wu Fang, was here the offence waseven greater, for the criminal society brooked no rival. 

In the dark recesses of a poorly furnished cellar, serving as theTong headquarters, the new leader and several of his most trustedfollowers were now plotting revenge. Long Sin, they believed, wasresponsible for the murder, and, with truly Oriental guile, theyhad obtained a hold over Wu Fang's secretary. 

Their plan decided on, the Chinamen left the headquarters and madetheir way separately up-town. They rejoined one another in theshelter of a rather poor house, before which was a board fence, inthe vicinity of a fashionable apartment house. A moment'sconference followed, and then the secretary glided away. 

 . . . . . . . 

Wu had taken another apartment up-town in one of the largeapartment houses near a parkway; for he was far too subtle tooperate from his real headquarters back of the squalid exterior ofChinatown. 

There Long Sin was now engaged in making all possible provisionsfor the safety of his master. Any one who had been walking alongthe boulevard and had happened to glance up at the roof of thetall apartment building might have seen Long Sin's figuresilhouetted against the sky on the top of the mansard roof near aflagpole. 

He had just finished fastening to the flagpole a stout rope whichstretched taut across an areaway some twenty or thirty feet wideto the next building, where it was fastened to a chimney. Againand again he tested it, and finally with a nod of satisfactiondescended from the roof and went to the apartment of Wu. 

There, alone, he paused for a few minutes to gaze in wonder at thecryptic ring which had been the net result so far of his effortsto find the millions which Bennett, as the Clutching Hand, hadhidden. He wore it, strangely enough, over his index finger, andas he examined it he shook his head in doubt. 

Neither he nor his master had yet been able to fathom thesignificance of the ring. 

Long Sin thought that he was unobserved. But outside, lookingthrough the keyhole, was Wu's secretary, who had stolen in on themission which had been set for him at the Tong headquarters. 

Long Sin went over to a desk and opened a secret box in which Wuhad placed several packages of money with which to bribe thosewhom he wished to get into his power. It was Long Sin's mission tocarry out this scheme, so he packed the money into a bag, drew hiscoat more closely about him and left the room. 

No sooner had he gone than the secretary hurried into the room, paused a moment to make sure that Long Sin was not coming back, then hurried over to a closet near-by. 

From a secret hiding-place he drew out a small bow and arrow. Hesat down at a table and hastily wrote a few Chinese characters ona piece of paper, rolling up the note into a thin quill which heinserted into a prepared place in the arrow. 

Then he raised the window and deftly shot the arrow out. 

Down the street, back of the board fence, where the finalconference has taken place, was a rather sleepy-looking Chinaman, taking an occasional puff at a cigarette doped with opium. 

He jumped to his feet suddenly. With a thud an arrow had burieditself quivering in the fence. Quickly he seized it, drew out thenote and read it. 

In the Canton vernacular it read briefly: "He goes with muchmoney. "

It was enough. Instantly the startling news overcame the effect ofthe dope, and the Chinaman shuffled off quickly to the Tongheadquarters. 

They were waiting for him there, and he had scarcely delivered themessage before their plans were made. One by one they left theheadquarters, hiding in doorways, basements and areaways along thenarrow street. 

 . . . . . . . 

Long Sin was making his rounds, visiting all those whom theglitter of Wu's money could corrupt. 

Suddenly from the shadows of a narrow street, lined with thestores of petty Chinese merchants, half a dozen lithe andmurderous figures leaped out behind Long Sin and seized him. Hestruggled, but they easily threw him down. 

Any one who has visited Chinatown knows that at every corner andbend of the crooked streets stands a policeman. It was scarcely asecond before the noise of the scuffle was heard, but it was toolate. The half dozen Tong men had seized the money which Long Sincarried and had deftly stripped him of everything else of value. 

The sound of the approaching policeman now alarmed them. Just asthe new Tong leader had raised an axe to bring it down withcrushing force on Long Sin's skull a shot rang out and the axefell from the broken wrist of the Chinaman. 

In another moment the policeman had seized him. Then followed asharp fight in which the Tong men's knowledge of jiu-jitsu stoodthem in good stead. The policeman was hurled aside, the Tongleader broke away, and one by one his followers disappearedthrough dark hallways and alleyways, leaving the policeman withonly two prisoners and Long Sin lying on the sidewalk. 

But the ring and the money were gone. 

"Are you hurt much?" demanded the burly Irish officer, assistingLong Sin to his feet, none too gently. 

Long Sin was furious over the loss of the precious ring, yet heknew to involve himself in the white man's law would end only indisaster both for him and his master. He forced a painful smile, shook his head and managed to get away down the street muttering. 

He made his way up-town and back to the apartment of Wu, andthere, pacing up and down in a fury, attended to his wounds. 

His forefinger, from which the ring had been so ruthlesslysnatched, was a constant reminder to him of the loss. Any one whocould have studied the vengefulness of his face would have seenthat it boded ill for some one. 

 . . . . . . . 

It was the day after her return from Aunt Tabby's that Kennedycalled again upon Elaine to find that she and Aunt Josephine wereengaged in the pleasant pastime of arranging an entertainment. 

Jennings announced Craig and held back the portieres as heentered. 

"Oh, good!" cried Elaine as she saw him. "You are just in time. Iwas going to send you this, but I should much rather give it toyou. "

She handed him a tastefully engraved sheet of paper which he readwith interest:

 Miss Elaine Dodge requests the honor of your presence at an Oriental Reception on April 6th, at 8 o'clock. 

"Very interesting, " exclaimed Craig enthusiastically. "I shall bedelighted to come. "

He looked about a moment at the library which Elaine was alreadyrearranging for the entertainment. 

"Then you must work, " she cried gaily. "You are just in time tohelp me buy the decorations. No objections--come along. "

She took Kennedy's arm playfully. 

"But I have a very important investigation for the Coroner that Iam--"

"No excuses, " she cried, laughingly, dragging him out. 

Among the many places which Elaine had down on her shopping listwas a small Chinese curio shop on lower Fifth avenue. 

They entered and were greeted with a profound bow by theproprietor. He was the new Tong leader, and this up-town shop washis cover. In actual fact, he was what might have been called aChinese fence for stolen goods. 

In their interest in the wealth of strange and curious ornamentsdisplayed in the shop they did not notice that the Chinaman'swrist was bound tightly under his flowing sleeve. 

Elaine explained what it was she wanted, and with Kennedy's aidselected a number of Chinese hangings and decorations. They wereabout to leave the shop when Elaine's eye was attracted by alittle show case in which were many quaint and valuable Chineseornaments in gold and silver and covered ivory. 

"What an odd looking thing, " she said, pointing out a nobbed ringwhich reposed on the black velvet of the case. 

"Quite odd, " agreed Kennedy. 

The subtle Chinaman stood by the pile of hangings on the counterwhich Elaine had bought, overjoyed at such a large sale. Praisingthe ring to Elaine, he turned insinuatingly to Kennedy. There wasnothing else for Craig to do--he bought the ring, and the Chinamanproved again his ability as a merchant. 

From the curio shop where Elaine had completed her purchases theydrove to Kennedy's laboratory. 

I had been at work on a story for the Star when they entered. 

"You will be there, too, Mr. Jameson?" coaxed Elaine, as she toldof their morning's work. 

I needed no urging. 

We were in the midst of planning the entertainment when a slightcough behind me made me start and turn quickly. 

There stood Long Sin, the astute Chinaman who had delivered thebomb to Kennedy and had betrayed Bennett. We had seen very littleof him since then. 

Long Sin bowed low and shuffled over closer to Kennedy. I noticedthat Elaine eyed Long Sin sharply. But as yet we had seen noreason to suspect him, so cleverly had he covered his tracks. Kennedy, having used him once to capture Bennett, was still notunwilling to use him in attempting to discover where Bennett'shidden millions lay. 

"I am in great trouble, Professor Kennedy, " began Long Sin in alow tone. "You don't know the Chinese of the city, but if you didyou would know what blackmailers there are among them. I haverefused to pay blackmail to the Chong Wah Tong, and since then ithas been trouble, trouble, trouble. "

Kennedy looked up quickly at the name Chong Wah Tong, thinking ofthe investigation which the Coroner had asked him to make into themurder. He and Long Sin moved a few steps away, discussing theaffair. 

Elaine and I were still talking over the entertainment. 

She happened to place her hand on the desk near Long Sin. My backwas toward him and I did not see him start suddenly and look ather hand. On it was the ring--the ring which, unknown to us, LongSin had found in the passageway under Aunt Tabby's garden, ofwhich he had been robbed, and which now, by a strange chance, hadcome into Elaine's possession. 

It was a peculiar situation for Long Sin, although as yet we didnot know it. He could not lay claim to the mystic ring, for thenKennedy would make him prove his ownership, and the whole affairof which we still knew nothing would be exposed. 

He acted quickly. Long Sin decided to recover the ring by stealth. 

Elaine was still talking enthusiastically about her party, whenLong Sin turned from Kennedy and moved toward us with a bow. 

"The lady speaks of an Oriental reception, " he remarked. "Wouldshe care to engage a magician?"

Elaine turned to him surprised. "Do you mean that you are amagician?" she asked, puzzled. 

Long Sin smiled quietly. He reached over and took a small bottlefrom Kennedy's laboratory table. Holding it in his hand almostdirectly before us, he made a few sleight-of-hand passes, and, presto! the bottle had disappeared. A few more passes, and a testtube appeared in its place. Before we knew it he had caused thetest tube to disappear and the bottle to reappear. We allapplauded enthusiastically. 

"I don't think that is such a bad idea after all, " nodded Kennedyto Elaine. 

"Perhaps not, " she agreed, a little doubtfully. "I hadn't intendedto have such a thing, but--why, of course, that would interesteverybody. "

 . . . . . . . 

It was the night of the reception. The Dodge library wastransformed. The Oriental hangings which Elaine and Kennedy hadpurchased seemed to breathe mysticism. At the far end of the rooma platform had been arranged to form a stage on which Long Sin wasto perform his sleight-of-hand. The drawing-room also wasdecorated like the library. 

At the other end of the room Elaine and Aunt Josephine, inpicturesque Oriental costume, were greeting the guests. Every oneseemed to be delighted with the novelty of the affair. 

We came in just a bit ahead of Long Sin, and Elaine greeted us. 

Almost everybody had arrived when Elaine turned to the guests andintroduced Long Sin with a little speech. Long Sin bowed and everyone applauded. He made his way to the platform in the library andmounted it. 

I shall not attempt to describe the amazing series of tricks whichhe performed. His hands and fingers seemed to move like lightning. Among other things, I remember he took up a cover from a tablenear-by. He held it up before us. Instantly it seemed that a flockof pigeons flew out of it around the room. How he did it I don'tknow. They were real pigeons, however, and the trick brought downthe house. 

Long Sin bowed. 

Another of his feats which I recall was nothing less than kindlinga fire on a small bit of tin and, as the flames mounted, hedeliberately stepped into them, apparently as unharmed as asalamander. 

So it went from one thing to another. The entertainment wasbrilliant in itself, but Long Sin seemed to put the finishingtouch to it. In fact, I suppose that it was a couple of hours thathe continued to amuse us. 

He had finished and every one crowded about him to congratulatehim on his skill. His only answer, however, was his inscrutablesmile. 

"This is wonderful, wonderful, " I repeated as I happened to meetElaine alone. We walked into the conservatory while the guestswere crowding around Long Sin. She seated herself for the firsttime during the evening. 

"May I get you an ice?" I suggested. 

She thanked me, and I hurried off. As I passed through thedrawing-room I did not notice that Long Sin had managed to escapefurther congratulations of the guests. Just then a waiter passedthrough with ices on a tray. I called to him and he stopped. 

A moment later Long Sin himself took an ice from the tray andretreated back of the portieres. No one was about, and he hastilydrew a bottle from his pocket. On the bottle was a Chinese label. He palmed the bottle, and any one who had chanced to see him wouldhave noticed that he passed it two or three times over the ice, then, lifting the portieres, entered the drawing-room again. 

He had made the circuit of the rooms in such a way as to bringhimself out directly in my path. With a smile he stopped beforeme, rubbing both hands together. 

"It is for Miss Elaine?" he asked. 

I nodded. 

By this time several of the guests who were fascinated with LongSin gathered about us. Long Sin fluttered open a Chinese fan whichhe had used in his tricks, passed it over my hand, and in someincomprehensible way I felt the plate with the ice literallydisappear from my grasp. My face must have shown my surprise. Aburst of laughter from the other guests greeted me. I looked atLong Sin, half angry, yet unable to say anything, for the joke wasplainly on me. He smiled, made another pass with the fan, andinstantly the plate with the ice was back in my hand. 

There was nothing for me but to take the joke in the spirit inwhich the other guests had taken it. I laughed with them andmanaged to get away. 

Meanwhile Kennedy had been moving from one to another of theguests seeking Elaine. He had already taken an ice from the waiterand was going in the direction of the conservatory. There he foundher. 

"Won't you take this ice?" he asked, handing it to her. 

"It is very kind of you, " she said, "but I have already sentWalter for one. "

Kennedy insisted and she took it. 

She had already started to eat it when I appeared in the doorway. I was rather vexed at Long Sin for having delayed me, and Imumbled something about it. 

Kennedy laughed, rather pleased at having beaten me. 

"Never mind, Walter, " he said with a smile, "I'll take it. And er--I don't think that Elaine will object if you play the host for alittle while with Aunt Josephine, " he hinted. 

I saw that three was a crowd and I turned to retrace my steps tothe drawing-room. 

Kennedy, however, was not alone. Back of the palms in theconservatory two beady black eyes were eagerly watching. Long Sinhad noted every movement as his cleverly laid plan miscarried. 

Chatting with animation, Kennedy tasted the ice. He had taken onlya couple of spoonfuls when a look of wonder and horror seemed tospread over his face. 

He rose quickly. A cold sweat seemed to break out all over him. His nerves almost refused to respond. His tongue seemed to beparalyzed and the muscles of his throat seemed to be like steelbands. 

He took only a few steps, began to stagger, and finally sank downon the floor. 

Elaine screamed. 

We rushed in from the library and drawing-room. There lay Kennedyon the floor, his face most terribly contorted. We gathered aroundhim and he tried to raise himself and speak, but seemed unable toutter a sound. 

He had fallen near the fountain and one hand drooped over into thewater. As he fell back he seemed to have only just enough strengthto withdraw his hand from the fountain. On the stone coping, slowly and laboriously, he moved his finger. 

"What's the matter, old man?" I asked, bending over him. 

There was no answer, but he managed to turn his head, and Ifollowed the direction of his eyes. 

With trembling finger he was tracing out, one by one, someletters. I looked and it flashed over me what he meant. He hadwritten with the water:

"Digitalin--lab--"

I jumped up and almost without a word dashed out of theconservatory, down the hall and into the first car waitingoutside. 

"To the laboratory, " I directed, giving the driver the directions, "and drive like the deuce!"

Fortunately there was no one to stop us, and I know we broke allthe speed laws of New York. I dashed into the laboratory, almostbroke open the cabinet, and seized the bottle of digitalin and ahypodermic syringe, then rushed madly out again and into the car. 

Meanwhile some of the guests had lifted up Kennedy, too excited tonotice Long Sin in his hiding-place. They had laid Craig down on acouch and were endeavoring to revive him. Some one had alreadysent for a doctor, but the aconite was working quickly on itsvictim, and he was slowly stiffening out. Elaine was frantic. 

I scarcely waited for the car to stop in front of the house. Iopened the door and rushed in. 

Without a word I thrust the antidote and the syringe into thehands of the doctor and he went to work immediately. We watchedwith anxiety. Finally Kennedy's eyes opened and gradually hisbreathing seemed to become more normal. 

The antidote had been given in time. 

 . . . . . . . 

Kennedy was considerably broken up by the narrow escape which hehad had, and, naturally, even the next morning, did not feel likehimself. 

In the excitement of leaving Elaine's we had forgotten the bottleof digitalin. As for myself, I had been so overjoyed at seeing myold friend restored that I would have forgotten anything. 

Kennedy looked rather wan and peaked, but insisted on going to thelaboratory as usual. 

"Do you remember what became of the bottle of digitalin?" heasked, fumbling in the closet. 

Mechanically I felt in my own pockets; it was not there. I shookmy head. 

"I don't seem to remember what became of it--perhaps we left itthere. In fact, we must have left it there. "

"I don't like to have such things lying around loose, " remarkedKennedy, taking up his hat and coat with forced energy. "I thinkwe had better get it. "

Elaine had spent rather a sleepless night after the attempt topoison her which had miscarried and resulted in poisoning Kennedy. 

To keep her mind off the thing, she had already started to takedown the decorations. Jennings and Marie, as well as a couple ofworkmen, were restoring the library to its normal condition underthe direction of Aunt Josephine. 

The telephone rang and Elaine answered it. Her face showed thatsomething startling had happened. 

"It was Jameson, " she cried, almost dropping the receiver, overcome. 

They all hurried to her. "He says that Mr. Kennedy and he werevisiting that Chinaman this morning and Mr. Kennedy suffered arelapse--is dying there, in the Chinaman's apartment. He wants usto come quickly and bring that medicine that they used last night. He says it is on the tabaret in the library. Marie, will you lookfor it? And, Jennings, get the car right away. "

Jennings hurried from the room, and a moment later Marie had foundthe bottle behind some ornaments on the tabaret and came back withit. 

Scarcely knowing what to do, Elaine, followed by Aunt Josephine, had rushed from the house, hatless and coatless, just as the carswung around from the garage in the rear. Jennings went out withthe wraps. They seized them and leaped into the car, which startedoff swiftly. 

It was only a matter of minutes when they pulled up before theapartment house where Wu had taken the suite from which Long Sinhad telephoned the message in my name. Together Elaine and AuntJosephine hurried in. 

 . . . . . . . 

Kennedy went directly from the laboratory to the Dodge house. 

I don't think I ever saw such an expression of surprise onanybody's face as that on Jennings's when he opened the door andsaw us. He was aghast. Back of him we could see Marie. She lookedas if she had seen a ghost. 

"Is Miss Elaine in?" asked Kennedy. 

Jennings was even too dumfounded to speak. 

"Why, what's the matter?" demanded Kennedy. 

"Then--er--you are not ill again?" he managed to blurt out. 

"Ill again?" repeated Kennedy. 

"Why, " explained Jennings, "didn't Mr. Jameson just now telephonethat you had had a relapse in the apartment of that Chinaman, andfor Miss Elaine to hurry over there right away with that bottle ofmedicine?" Kennedy waited to hear no more. Seizing me by the arm, he turned and dashed down the steps and back again into thetaxicab in which we had come. 

 . . . . . . . 

In Wu's apartment Long Sin was giving his secretary and anotherChinaman the most explicit instructions. As he finished eachnodded and showed him a Chinese dirk concealed under his blouse. 

Just then a knock sounded at the door. The secretary opened it, and Aunt Josephine and Elaine almost ran in. Before they knew it, the secretary had locked the door. 

Long Sin rose and bowed with a smile. 

"Where is Mr. Kennedy?" demanded Elaine. Long Sin bowed again, spreading out his hands, palm outward. 

"Mr. Kennedy? He is not here. "

Then, straightening up, he faced the two women squarely. 

"You have a ring that means much to me, " he said quickly. "Theonly way to get it from you was to bring you here. "

He was pointing now at the ring on Elaine's finger. She looked atit a moment in surprise, then at the menacing Chinaman, and turnedquickly. She ran to the door. It was locked. 

Long Sin, motionless, smiled. "There is no way to get out, " hemurmured. 

Aunt Josephine was standing now with her back to the door leadinginto another room. She happened to look up and saw the secretary, who was near her and half turned away. From where she was standingshe could see the murderous dirk up his sleeve. 

She acted instantly. Without a word she summoned all her strengthand struck him. The secretary stumbled. 

"Elaine, " she cried, "look out! they have knives. "

Before Elaine knew it Aunt Josephine had taken her by the arm, hadpulled her into the back room, and, although Long Sin and theothers had rushed forward, managed to slam the door and lock it. 

The Chinamen set to work immediately to pry it open. 

While they were at work on the doer, which was already swaying, Aunt Josephine and Elaine were running about, trying to find anoutlet from the room. 

There seemed to be no way out. Even the windows were locked. 

"I don't know why they want the ring, " whispered Aunt Josephine, "but they won't get it. Give it to me, Elaine. "

She almost seized the ring, hiding it in her waist. As she did sothe door burst open and Wu, Long Sin and the other Chinamen rushedin. 

A second later they seized Elaine and Aunt Josephine. 

 . . . . . . . 

Kennedy and I dashed up before the apartment house in which weknew that Long Sin lived, leaped out of the car and hurried in. 

It was on the second floor, and we did not wait for the elevatorbut took the steps two at a time. Kennedy found the door locked. Instantly he whipped out his revolver and shot the lock in pieces. We threw ourselves against the door, the broken lock gave way andwe rushed in through the front room. 

No one was there, but in a back room we could hear sounds. It wasElaine and Aunt Josephine struggling with the Chinamen. Long Sinand the others had seized Elaine and Aunt Josephine was trying tohelp her just as we rushed in. With a blow Kennedy knocked out thesecretary, while I struggled with the other Chinamen who blockedthe way. 

Then Kennedy went directly at Long Sin. They struggled furiously. 

Long Sin, with his wonderful knowledge of jiu-jitsu, might nothave been a match for six other Chinamen, but he was for one whiteman. With a mighty effort he threw Kennedy, rushed for the doorand, as he passed through the outside room, seized a Tong axe fromthe wall. 

Afraid of the wonderful jiu-jitsu, I had picked up the first thinghandy, which was a tabaret. I literally broke it over the head ofmy Chinaman, then turned and dashed out after Long Sin just asKennedy picked himself up and followed. 

I caught up with the Chinaman and we had a little struggle, but hemanaged to break away and raised his axe threateningly. A shoutfrom Kennedy caused him to turn and run down the flight of stairs, Kennedy closely behind him. 

In the main hall of the apartment house were two elevator shaftsfacing the street entrance, some twenty-five or thirty feet away. Through the street door the janitor and two or three other menwere running in. They had heard the noise of the fighting above. 

Escape to the street was cut off. We were behind him on the flightof stairs. 

Long Sin did not hesitate a moment. He ran to the elevator, thedoor of which was open, seized the elevator boy and sent himsprawling on the marble floor. Then he slammed the door and theelevator shot up. 

Kennedy was only a few feet behind, and he took in the situationat a glance. He leaped into the other elevator, and before thesurprised boy could interfere shot it up only a few feet behindLong Sin. 

Up the two elevators rose, Kennedy firing as best he could at LongSin, while the shots reverberated through the elevator shaft likecannon. 

It was a wild race to the roof. Long Sin had the start, and as theelevator reached the top floor he flung it open, dashed out andthrough a door up to the roof itself. 

A second later Kennedy's elevator stopped. Craig leaped out andfired his last shot at the legs of Long Sin as he disappeared atthe top of the flight of stairs to the roof. He flung the revolverfrom him and followed. 

Without a moment's hesitation Kennedy threw himself at Long Sin. They struggled with each other. Finally Long Sin managed to wrenchone arm lose and raise the Tong axe over Kennedy's head. 

Kennedy dodged back. As he did so he tripped on the very edge ofthe roof and went sliding down the slates of the mansard. 

Fortunately he was able to catch himself in the gutter. 

It was the opportunity that Long Sin wanted. He started across therope, which he had stretched from this apartment house to thebuilding across the court, with all the deftness of the mostexpert Chinese acrobat. 

By this time I had reached the roof, followed by the janitor andthe elevator boys. 

Kennedy was now crawling up the mansard, helping himself as besthe could by some of the ornamental ironwork. I hurried over withthe janitor, and together we pulled him out of danger. 

Long Sin had reached the roof on the opposite side as we ranacross in the direction of the taut rope. 

A moment later he returned and bowed at us mockingly, thendisappeared behind a skylight. 

Kennedy did not stop an instant. 

"You fellows go down to the street and see if you can head him offthat way, " he cried. "Stay here, Walter. "

Before I knew it he had seized the rope and was going across tothe other building, hand over hand. It was a perilous undertaking, but his blood was up. 

Kennedy had almost reached the other roof when suddenly frombehind the skylight stepped Long Sin. With a wicked leer, headvanced to the edge of the roof, his axe upraised. I lookedacross the yawning chasm, horrified. 

Slowly Long Sin raised the axe above his head, gathering all thestrength which he had, waiting for Kennedy to approach closer. Kennedy stopped. Swiftly the axe descended, slashing the rope atone blow. 

Like the weight of a pendulum Kennedy swung back against our ownbuilding, managing to keep his hold on the rope with superhumanstrength. 

I bent far over the edge of the roof, fully expecting to see himdashed to pieces at the bottom of the court. 

There was a tremendous shattering of glass. 

The rope had been just long enough to make him strike a window andhe had gone crashing through the glass three floors below. 

I dashed down the stairs and into the apartment. Kennedy was lyingon the floor badly cut. I raised him up. He was dazed andconsiderably overcome; but as he staggered to his feet with myhelp I saw that no bones were broken. 

"Help me, quick, Walter, " he urged, moving toward the elevators. 

Meanwhile Long Sin had quickly dived down into the next building. A few moments later he had come out on the ground floor at therear. 

Gazing about to see whether he was followed, he disappeared. 

 . . . . . . . 

Back in the apartment, Elaine and Aunt Josephine were just aboutto run out when the two Chinamen who had been knocked outrecovered. One of them threw himself on Elaine. Aunt Josephinetried to ward him off, but the other one struck her and threw herdown. 

Before she could recover they had seized Elaine. 

With a hasty guttural exclamation they picked her up and ran out. Instead of going down-stairs they crossed the hallway, slammingthe door behind them. 

As Kennedy and I reached the ground floor we saw the janitor andone of the elevator boys on either side of Aunt Josephine. 

"Elaine! Elaine!" she cried. 

"What's the matter?" demanded Kennedy, leaning heavily on me. 

"They have kidnapped her, " cried Aunt Josephine. 

Kennedy pulled himself together. 

"Tell me, quick--how did it happen?" he demanded of AuntJosephine. 

"It was the ring, " she cried, handing it to him. 

Kennedy took the ring and looked at it for a moment. Then heturned to us blankly. 

All the rooms were empty. 

Elaine had been spirited away. 

CHAPTER III

THE WATCHING EYE

Not a clue was left by the kidnappers when they so mysteriouslyspirited Elaine away from the apartment of Wu Fang. She haddisappeared as completely as if she had vanished into the thinair. 

Kennedy was frantic. Wu and Long Sin themselves seemed to havevanished, too. Where they held her, what had happened to her was asealed book. And yet, no move of ours was made, no matter howsecret, that it did not seem to be known to them. It was as thougha weird, uncanny eye glared at us, watching everything. 

Craig neglected no possibility in his eager search. He evenvisited the little house in the country which Elaine had given toAunt Tabby, and spent several hours examining the collapsedsubterranean chamber in the vain hope that it might yield a clue. But it had not. 

It was half filled with debris from above, where the pillar hadgiven way that night when we had all so nearly lost our lives. Still, there was enough room in what remained of the cavern sothat we could move about. 

Kennedy had even dug away some of the earth and rock, in the hopeof discovering some trace of the strange visitor whom we hadsurprised at work. But here, also, he had found nothing. 

It was maddening. What might at any moment be happening to Elaine--and he powerless to help her?

Unescapably, he was forced to the conclusion that not onlyElaine's amazing disappearance, but the tragic succession ofevents which had preceded it, had been caused, in some way, by thecuriously engraved ring which Aunt Josephine had taken fromElaine. 

Craig had taken possession of the mystic ring himself, and now, forced back on this sole clue, it had occurred to him that if thering were so valuable, other attempts would, without doubt, bemade to get possession of it. 

I came into the laboratory, one afternoon, to find Kennedysurrounded by jeweler's tools, hard at work making an exact copyof the ring. 

"What do you think of it, Walter?" he asked, holding up thereplica. 

"Perfect, " I replied, admiringly. "What are you going to do withit?"

"I can't say--yet, " answered Kennedy, forlornly, "but if Iunderstand these Chinese criminals at all, I know that the onlyway we can ever track them is through some trick. Perhaps thereplica will suggest something to us later. "

He placed the copy in a velvet-lined box closely resembling thatin which the real ring lay, and dropped both into his pocket. 

"Let's see if Aunt Josephine has received any word, " he remarkedabruptly, putting on his hat and coat, and nodding to me tofollow. 

Kennedy and I were not the only visitors to the subterraneanchamber where it had seemed that the clue to the Clutching Hand'smillions might be found. 

It was as though that hidden, watching eye followed us. The nightafter our own unsuccessful search, Wu Fang, accompanied by LongSin, made his way into the cavern. 

As they flashed their electric bull's-eyes about the place, theycould see readily that we had already been digging there. 

Wu examined the safe which had been broken into, while Long Sinrepeated his experiences there. 

"And you say there was nothing else in it?" demanded Wu. 

"Nothing but the ring which they got from me, " replied Long Sin, ruefully. 

"Strange--very strange, " ruminated Wu, still regarding the emptystrong box. 

Long Sin was now going over the walls of the cavern minutely, hisclose-set, beady black eyes examining every square inch of it. 

A sudden low guttural exclamation caused Wu to turn to himquickly. Long Sin had discovered, back of the debris, a smalloblong slot, cut into the rock. Above it were some peculiar marks. 

Wu hurried over to his henchman, and together they tried todecipher what had been scratched on the rock. 

As Long Sin's slender and sinister forefinger traced over theinscription, Wu suddenly caught him by the elbow. 

"The ring!" he cried, as at last he interpreted the meaning of thecryptic characters. 

But what about the ring? For a moment Wu looked at the slot indeep thought. Then he reached down and withdrew a ring from hisown finger and dropped it through the slot. 

They listened a moment. They could hear the ring tinkle as thoughit were running down some sort of track-like declivity inside therock. Then, faintly, they could hear it drop. It had fallen into alittle cup of a compartment below at their feet. 

Nothing happened. Wu recovered his ring. But he had hit at lastupon the Clutching Hand's secret!

Bennett had devised a ring-lock which would open, the treasurevault. No other ring except the one which he had so carefullyhidden was of the size or weight that would move the lever whichwould set the machinery working to open the treasure house. 

Again Wu tried another of his own rings, and a third time Long Sindropped in a ring from his finger. Still there was no result. 

"The ring which we lost is the key to the puzzle--the only key, "exclaimed Wu Fang finally. "We must recover it at all hazard. "

To his subtle mind a plan of action seemed to unfold almostinstantly. "There is no good remaining here, " he added. "And wehave gained nothing by the capture of the girl, unless we can useher to recover the ring. "

Long Sin followed his master with a sort of intuition. "If we haveto steal it, " he suggested deferentially, "it can be accomplishedbest by making use of Chong Wah Tong. "

The Tong was the criminal band which they had offended, which hadin fact stolen the ring from Long Sin and sold it to Elaine. Yetin a game such as this enmity could not last when it was mutuallydisadvantageous. Wu took the suggestion. He decided instantly tomake peace with his enemies--and use them. 

Later that night, in his car, Wu stopped near the little curioshop kept by the new Tong leader. 

Long Sin alighted and entered the shop, while the Tong man eyedhim suspiciously. 

"My master has come to make peace, " he began, saluting the Tongleader behind the counter. 

Nothing, in reality, could have pleased the Tong men more, for intheir hearts they feared the master-like subtlety of Wu Fang. Theconference was short and Long Sin with a bow left quickly torejoin Wu, while the Tong leader disappeared into a back room ofthe shop where several of the inner circle sat. 

"All is well, master, " reported Long Sin when he had made his wayback to the car around the corner in which Wu was waiting. 

Wu smiled and a moment later followed by his slave in crimeentered the curio shop and passed through with great dignity intothe room in the rear. 

As the two entered, the Tong men bowed with great respect. 

"Let us be enemies no more, " began Wu briefly. "Let us rather helpeach other as brothers. "

He extended his right hand, palm down, as he spoke. For a momentthe Tong leader parleyed with the others, then stepped forward andlaid his own hand, palm down, over that of Wu. One by one theothers did the same, including Long Sin, the aggrieved. 

Peace was restored. 

Wu had risen to go, and the Tong men were bowing a respectfulfarewell. He turned and saw a large vase. For a moment he pausedbefore it. It was an enormous affair and was apparently composedof a mosaic of rare Chinese enamels, cunningly put together by thedeft and patient fingers of the oriental craftsmen. Extending fromthe widely curving bowl below was an extremely long, narrow, tapering neck. 

Wu looked at it intently; then an idea seemed to strike him. Hecalled the Tong leader and the others about him. 

Quickly he outlined the details of a plan. 

 . . . . . . . 

"Have you received any word yet?" asked Aunt Josephine anxiously, when Jennings had ushered us into the Dodge library. 

Kennedy shook his head sadly. There was no need to repeat thequestion to Aunt Josephine. The tears in her eyes told only tooplainly that she herself had heard nothing, either. 

Craig bent over and placed his hand on her shoulder. For themoment, none of us could control our emotions. 

A few minutes later, Jennings entered the room softly again. "Theexpressmen are outside, ma'am, with a large package, " he said. 

"A package?" inquired Aunt Josephine, looking up, surprised. "Forme--are you sure?"

Jennings bowed and repeated his remark. Aunt Josephine followedhim out into the hall. 

There, already, the delivery men had set down a huge oriental vasewith a remarkably long and narrow neck. It was, as befitted such areally beautiful object of art, most carefully crated. But to AuntJosephine it came as a complete surprise. "I can't imagine whocould have sent it, " she temporized. "Are you quite sure it is forme?"

The expressman, with a book, looked up from the list of names downwhich he was running his finger. "This is Mrs. Dodge, isn't it?"he asked, pointing with his pencil to the entry with the addressfollowing it. There seemed to be no name of a shipper. 

"Yes, " she replied dubiously, "but I don't understand it. Waitjust a moment"

She went to the library door. "Mr. Kennedy, " she said, "may Itrouble you and Mr. Jameson a moment?"

We followed her into the hall and there stood gazing at themysterious gift while she related its recent history. 

"Why not set it up in the library?" I suggested, seeing that theexpressmen were getting restive at the delay. "If there is anymistake, they will send for it soon. No one ever gets anything fornothing. "

Aunt Josephine turned to the expressmen and nodded. With the aidof Jennings they carried the vase into the library and there itwas uncrated, while Kennedy continued to question the man with thebook, without eliciting any further information than that hethought it had been reconsigned from another express company. Heknew nothing more than that it had been placed on his wagon, properly marked and prepaid. 

When Kennedy rejoined us, the vase had been completely uncrated, Aunt Josephine signed for it, and, grumbling a bit, the expressmenleft. There we stood, nonplussed by the curious gift. 

Craig walked around the vase, looking at it critically. I had afeeling of being watched, one of those sensations whichpsychologists tell us are utterly baseless and unfounded. I wasglad I had not said anything about it when he tapped the vase withhis cane, then stuck it down the long narrow neck, working itaround as well as he could. The neck was so long and narrow, however, that his stick could not fully explore the inside of thevase, but it seemed to me to be quite empty. 

"Well, there's nothing in it, anyhow, " I ventured. 

I had spoken too soon. Kennedy withdrew his cane and on theferrule, adhering as though by some sticky substance, was a note. Kennedy pulled it off and unfolded it, while we gathered abouthim. 

"Maybe it's from Elaine, " cried Aunt Josephine, grasping at astraw. 

We read:

DEAR AUNT JOSEPHINE, This is a token that I am unharmed. Have Mr. Kennedy give the ringto the man at the corner of Williams and Brownlee Avenues atmidnight to-night, and they will surrender me to him. --ELAINE. 

P. S. Have him come alone or my life will be in danger. 

We looked at each other in amazement. 

"I thought something like this would happen, " remarked Craig atlength. 

"Oh, " cried Aunt Josephine, "it's too good to be true. "

"We'll do it, " exclaimed Kennedy quickly, "only this is the ringthat we'll give them. "

He drew from his pocket the replica of the ring which he had madeand showed it to Aunt Josephine. Then he drew from another pocketthe real ring, replacing the replica. 

"Here's the real one, " he said in a low tone. "Guard it as youwould guard your life. "

She took the ring, almost fearfully. It seemed as if nothing butmisfortune had followed it. Still, she realized that it wasnecessary that she should take care of it, if the plan was towork. 

"And, oh, Mr. Kennedy, " she implored, as we rose to go, "pleaseget back my little girl for me. "

Craig clasped her hand. "I'll try my best, " he replied fervently, patting her shoulder to cheer her up, as she sank into a chair. 

Aunt Josephine was worn out with the sleepless nights of worrysince Elaine's disappearance. After we had gone, she tried to eatdinner, but found that she had no appetite. 

All the evening she sat in the library, with a book at which shestared, though she scarcely read a page. However, as the hourslengthened, she found herself nodding through sheer exhaustion. 

It was getting late and her thoughts were still on Elaine, At thedesk in the library, she was examining the curious ring, which shehad taken from her jewel case, thinking of the terrible train ofevents that had followed it. 

Although she had intended to sit up until she received some wordfrom Kennedy that night, the long strain had told on her and inspite of her worry about Elaine, she decided, at length, toretire. She replaced the ring in the case, locked the case, andturned out the lights. 

"Good night, Jennings, " she said, as she passed the faithful oldbutler in the hall. 

"Good night, ma'am, " he replied, pausing on his rounds to see thatthe doors and windows were locked. 

Aunt Josephine, clasping the jewel case tightly, mounted thestairs and entered her room. She locked the door carefully and putthe jewelry case under her pillow. Then she switched off thelight. 

The moment Jennings's footsteps ceased down-stairs in the library, a small piece of the vase seemed to break away from the rest ofthe mosaic, as though it were knocked out from the inside. Then alarge piece fell out, and another. 

At last from the strange hiding-place a lithe figure, as shiny asthough bathed in oil, naked except for a loin-cloth, seemed tosquirm forth like a serpent. It was Wu Fang--the watchful eyewhich, literally as well as figuratively, had been leveled at usin one form or another ever since the kidnapping of Elaine. 

Silently he tiptoed to the doorway and listened. There was not asound. Just as noiselessly then he went back to the library tableand muffling the telephone bell, took down the receiver. Hewhispered a number, waited, then whispered some directions. 

A moment later he wormed his way out of the library and into thedrawing-room. On he went cautiously, snake-like, up the stairsuntil he came to the door of Aunt Josephine's room. 

He bent down and listened. There was no sound except AuntJosephine's breathing. Silently he drew from a fold in the loin-cloth a screwdriver and removed the screws from the hinges of thedoor. Quietly he pushed the bedroom door open, pivoting it on thelock, just far enough open so that he could slip through. 

Creeping along the floor, like a reptile whose sign he hadassumed, he came nearer and nearer Aunt Josephine's bed. As hepaused for a moment his quick eye seemed to catch sight of thebulging lump under her pillow. His long thin hand reached out forit. 

Aunt Josephine moved restlessly in her sleep. Instantly he seizeda murderous-looking Chinese dirk fastened to his side and raisedit above her head ready to strike on the slightest outcry. Shemoved slightly, and relapsed into sound sleep again. 

Holding the knife above her, Wu slowly and quietly removed thejewel-case from under her pillow. 

 . . . . . . . 

In a country road-house Long Sin was waiting patiently. Thetelephone rang and the proprietor answered. Long Sin was at hisside almost before he could hand over the receiver. It was LongSin's master, Wu. 

"Beware, " came the whispered message over the wire. "Kennedy hasmade a false ring. I'll get the real one. By the great Devil ofGobi, you must cut him off. "

"It is done, " returned Long Sin, hanging up the receiver in greatexcitement. 

He hurried out of the room and left the road-house. Down the roadin an automobile, bound between two Chinamen, one at her head andthe other at her feet, was Elaine, wrapped around in blankets, noteven her face visible. The guards looked up startled as Long Sinstreaked out of the shadow to the car. 

"Quick!" he ordered. "The master will get the ring himself. I willtake care of Kennedy. "

An instant and they were gone, while Long Sin slunk back into theshadows from which he had come. 

Through the underbrush the wily Chinaman made his way to an oldbarn, which stood back some distance from the road, and enteredthe front door. There was another door in the rear, and one quitelarge window. 

In the dim light of a lantern hanging from a rafter could be seenseveral large barrels in a corner. Without a moment's hesitation, Long Sin seized a bucket and placed it under the spiggot of one ofthe barrels. The liquid poured forth into the bucket and heemptied the contents on the floor, filling the bucket again andagain and swinging it right and left in every direction until thebarrel had finally run dry. 

Then he moved over to the window, which he examined carefully. Satisfied with what he had done, he drew a slip of paper from hispocket and hastily wrote a note, resting the paper on an old box. When he had finished writing, he folded up the note and thrust itinto a little hollow carved Chinese figure which he took also fromhis pocket. 

These were, apparently, his emergency preparations which he wasready to execute in case he received such a message from hismaster as he had actually received. 

With a final hasty glance about he extinguished the lantern, letting the moonlight stream fitfully through the single window. Then he left the barn, with both front and rear doors open. 

Taking advantage of every bit of shelter, he made his way acrossthe field in the direction of the crossroads, finally droppingdown behind a huge rock some yards from the finger post thatpointed each way to Williams and Brownlee Avenues. 

 . . . . . . . 

 Late that night, Kennedy left his apartment prepared to followthe instructions in the note which had been so strangely deliveredin the vase. 

As he climbed into a roadster, he tucked the robe most carefullyinto a corner under the leather seat. 

"For heaven's sake, Craig, " I gasped from under the robe, "let mehave a little air. "

I had taken my place under the robe before the car was driven upbefore the apartment, lest some emissary of Wu Fang might bewatching to see that there was no such trick. 

"You'll get air enough when we get started, Walter, " he laughedback under his breath, apparently addressing the engine. 

Kennedy was a hard driver when he wanted to be and enough was atstake to-night to make him drive hard. He whizzed along in theroadster, and I was indeed glad enough to huddle up under therobe. 

We had reached a point in the suburbs which was deserted and I didnot recognize a thing when he pulled up by the side of the roadwith a jerk. I peered through a crease in the corner of the robe, and saw him slide out from under the wheel and stand by the sideof the car, looking up and down. Ahead of us the road curvedsharply and I had no idea what was there, though Kennedy seemed toknow the place. 

A moment later he pulled the robe partly off me, and bent down asthough examining the batteries on the side of the car. 

"Get out on the other side in the shadow of the car, Walter, " hewhispered hoarsely. "Go down the road a bit--only cut in and keepunder cover. This is Williams Avenue. You'll see a big rock. Hidebehind it. Ahead you'll see Brownlee Avenue. Be prepared foranything. I shall have to trust the rest to you. I don't knowmyself what's going to happen. "

I slid out and went along the edge of the road, as Craig haddirected, and finally crouched behind a huge rock, feeling on asmuch tension as if I had been a boy playing at Wild West. Onlythis might at any moment develop into the reality of a Wild FarEast. 

After a moment to give me a chance, Craig himself left the carpulled up close by the side of the road and went ahead on foot. Atlast he came to the cross-roads just around the bend, where in themoonlight he could read the sign: "Williams Avenue" and "BrownleeAvenue. " He stood there a moment, then glanced at his watch whichregistered both hands approaching the hour of twelve. He gazedabout at the deserted country. Had the appointment been a hoax, after all, a scheme to get him away from the city for somepurpose?

Suddenly, at his feet in the dust of the road something heavyseemed to drop. He looked about quickly. No one was in sight. 

He reached down and picked up a little Chinese figure. Tapping itwith his knuckle, he examined it curiously. It was hollow. 

From the inside he drew out a piece of paper. He strained his eyesin the moonlight and managed to make out:

The Serpent is all-wise, and his fang is fatal. You have signedthe white girl's death warrant. 

Beneath this sinister warning was stamped the serpent sign of WuFang. 

It was not a hoax, and Kennedy stood there a moment gazing aboutin tense anxiety. Had that uncanny watching eye observed his everyaction? Was it staring at him now in the blackness?

 . . . . . . . 

Meanwhile, I had made my way stealthily, peering into the bushesand careful not even to step on anything that would make a noiseand was now, as I have said, crouched behind the big rock to whichCraig had directed me. I heard him go along the road and lookedabout cautiously, but could hear and see nothing else. 

I had begun to wonder whether Kennedy might not have made amistake when, suddenly, from behind the shadow of another rock, ahead of me, but toward Brownlee Avenue, I saw a tall, gauntfigure of a man rise in the moonlight, almost as if it had sprungfrom the very earth. 

My heart gave a leap, as he quickly raised his right arm andhurled something as far as he could in the direction that Kennedyhad taken. If it had been a bomb, followed by an explosion, Iwould not have been surprised. But no sound followed as the figuredropped back as if it had been a wraith. 

I stole out from my own hiding-place in the shadow of my rock anddarted quickly to the shelter of a bush, nearer the figure. 

The figure was no wraith. It turned to steal away. I rememberedKennedy's parting words. If the man ever gained the darkness of aclump of woods, just beyond us, he was as good as safe. This wasthe time to act. 

I leaped at him and we went down, rolling over and over in theunderbrush and stubble. We fought fiercely, but I could not seemto get a glimpse of his face which was muffled. 

He was powerful and stronger than I and after a tough tussle hebroke loose. But I had succeeded, nevertheless. I had delayed himjust long enough. Kennedy heard the sound of the struggle and wasnow crashing through the hedge at the cross-roads in ourdirection. 

I managed to pick myself up, just as Kennedy reached my side and, together, we followed the retreating figure, as it made its wayamong the shadows. Across the open space before us we followed himand at last saw him dive into an old barn. 

A moment later we followed hot-foot into the barn. As we entered, we could hear a peculiar grating noise, as though a door was swungon its rusty hinges. The front door was open. Evidently the manhad gone through and closed the back door. 

We threw ourselves against the back door. But it did not yield. There was no time to waste and we turned to rush out again by theway we had come, just as the front door was slammed shut. 

The man had trapped us. He had left both doors open, had runthrough, braced the back door, then had rushed around outside justin time to brace the front door also. 

We could hear his feet crunching the dry leaves and twigs as hewent around the side of the barn again. Together we threwourselves against the front door, but, although it yielded alittle he had barred it so that it would resist our unitedstrength for some time. 

Again and again we threw ourselves against it. It was horriblydark in there, except for an oblong spot where the moonlightstreamed in through a window. Suddenly the pale silver of themoonlight on the floor reddened. 

The man had struck a match and thrown it into a mass of oil-soakedstraw and gunpowder which protruded through one of the weather-beaten boards, near the floor. 

It was only a matter of a second or so now when the fire sweptinto the barn itself. There was no beating it out. Some one hadliterally soaked the straw and the floor with oil. It seemed asthough the whole place burst into a sudden blaze of tinder. Outside, we could hear footsteps rapidly retreating toward theshelter of the clump of woods. 

For a second I looked dismayed at the rapidly-mounting flames. 

"A very pretty situation, " I forced with a laugh. "But I hope hedoesn't think we'll stay here and burn, with a perfectly goodwindow in full view. "

I took a step toward the window, but before I could take another, Kennedy yanked me back. 

"Don't think for a moment that he overlooked that, " he shouted. 

Craig looked around hastily. In a corner, just back of us was along pole. He snatched it up and moved cautiously toward thewindow, keeping the pole as level as possible as he endeavored toget a leverage on the sash. The flames were mounting faster andhigher, licking up everything. 

"Keep back, Walter, " he muttered, "just as far as you can. "

He had scarcely raised the window a fraction of an inch when anold rusty, heavy anvil and a bent worn plowshare crashed down tothe floor directly over the spot where I should have been if hehad not dragged me away. I started back, aghast. Nothing had beenoverlooked to finish us off. 

"I think you may try it safely now, all right, " smiled Kennedycoolly. 

We climbed out of the window, not an instant too soon from theraging inferno about us. 

Having gained the clump of woods, the gaunt figure had paused longenough to gloat over his clever scheme. Instead, he saw us makinggood our escape. With a gesture of intense fury he turned. Therewas nothing more for him to do but to zigzag his way to safetyacross country. 

The barn was now burning fiercely and it was almost as light asday about us. Kennedy paused only long enough to look down at theground where the fire had been started. 

"See, Walter, " he exclaimed pointing to a square indention in thesoft soil. "No white man ever made a footprint like that. "

I bent over. The prints had the squareness of those paper-layeredsoles of a Chinaman. 

"Long Sin, " came the name involuntarily to my lips, for I knewthat Wu would delegate just such a job to his faithful slave. 

Kennedy did not pause an instant longer, but in the light of theburning barn, as best he could, started to follow the trail in adesperate endeavor either to overtake Long Sin, or at least tofind the final direction in which he would go. 

 . . . . . . . 

At the entrance of the passageway which led to the littleunderground chamber in which we had sought the treasure hidden bythe Clutching Hand, Wu Fang was seated on a rock waitingimpatiently, though now and then indulging in a sinister smile atthe subtle trick by which he had recovered the ring. 

The sound of approaching footsteps disturbed him. He was far tooclever to leave anything to chance and, like a serpent, hewriggled behind another rock and waited. It was only a glance, however, that he needed to allay his suspicions. It was Long Sin, breathless. 

Wu stepped out beside him so quietly that even the acute Long Sindid not hear. "Well?" he said in a guttural tone. 

Long Sin drew back in fear. "I have failed, oh master, " he repliedin an imploring tone. "Even now they follow my tracks. "

It was bad enough to confess defeat without the fear of capture. 

Wu frowned. "We must work quickly, then, " he muttered. 

He picked up a dark lantern near-by, indicating another to LongSin. They entered the cave, flashing the lights ahead of them. 

"Be careful, " ordered Wu, proceeding gingerly from one stepping-stone to another. "We shall be followed no further than this. "

He paused a moment and pointed his finger at the earth. Everywhere, except here and there where a stone projected, was asticky, slimy substance. It was an old trick of primitive races. 

"Bird lime, " hissed Wu, pointing at the viscid substance made ofthe juice of the holly bark, extracted by boiling, and mixed witha third part of nut oil and grease. 

They passed on from stone to stone until they came to thesubterranean chamber itself. Without a moment's hesitation, Wumade his way toward the rock in which they had found the slot withits cryptic inscription. 

Long Sin watched his master in silent admiration as, at last, hedrew forth the mystic ring for which they had dared all. 

Without a word, Wu dropped it in the slot. It tinkled down therunway, a protuberance hit a trigger and pushed it a hair'sbreadth. 

A noise behind them caused the two to turn startled. Even Wu hadnot expected it. 

On the other side of the chamber, a great rock in the groundslowly turned, as though on a pivot. They watched, fascinated. Even then Wu did not forget the precious ring, but as the rockturned, reached down quickly and recovered it from the cup at thefloor. 

Inch by inch the pivoted rock moved on its axis. They flashedtheir lanterns full on it and, as it moved, they could seedisclosed huge piles of gold and silver in coins and bars andornaments, a chest literally filled with brilliants, set andunset, rubies, emeralds, precious stones of every conceivablevariety, a cave that would have staggered even Aladdin--the richreward of the countless marauding operations of Bennett's otherpersonality. 

For a moment they could merely stand in avaricious exultation. 

 . . . . . . . 

Painfully and slowly, we managed to trail Long Sin's footprints, until we came to a road where they were lost in the hard macadam. There was no time to stop. We must follow the road on the chancethat he had taken it. But which way?

Kennedy chose the most likely direction, for the trail had been atan angle to the road and Long Sin was not likely to double back. We had not gone many rods before Kennedy paused a minute andlooked about in the moonlight. 

"It's right, Walter, " he cried. "Do you recognize it?"

I looked about. Then it flashed over me. This was the back roadthat led past the entrance to the treasure vault at Aunt Tabby's. 

We went on now more quickly, listening carefully to catch anysounds, but heard nothing. At last Kennedy stopped, then plungedamong the rocks and bushes beside the road. We were at the cave. 

"You go in this way, Walter, " he directed. "I'll go around anddown where it caved in. "

I groped my way along through the darkness. 

I had gone only a yard or two, when it seemed as though somethinghad grasped my foot. 

With a great wrench I managed to pull it loose. But the weight onmy other foot had imbedded it deeper. I struggled to free thisfoot and got the other caught. My revolver, which I had drawn, wasjarred from my hand and in the effort to recover it, I lost mybalance. Unable to move a foot in time to catch myself, I fellforward. My hands were now covered by the slimy, sticky stuff, andthe more I struggled, the worse I seemed to get entangled. 

 . . . . . . . 

Wu and Long Sin paused only a minute in astonishment. Then theyliterally fell upon the wealth that lay before them, gloating overthe gold, stuffing their hands into the jewels, lifting them upand letting the priceless gems run through their fingers. 

Suddenly they paused. There was the slight tinkle of a Chinesebell. 

Kennedy had reached Aunt Tabby's garden, outside the roof of thesubterranean chamber where it had given way, had gone downcarefully over the earth and rock, and in doing so had broken astring stretched across the passageway. The tinkle of a bellattached to it aroused his attention and he stopped short, asecond, to look about. Wu Fang had arranged a primitive alarm. 

Quickly, Wu and Long Sin blew out their lanterns while Wu gave therock a push. Slowly, as it had opened, it now closed and theystood there listening. 

I was still struggling in the bird lime, getting myself more andmore covered with it, when the reverberation of revolver shotsreached me. 

Wu and Long Sin had opened fire on Kennedy, and Kennedy wasreplying in kind. In the cavern it sounded like a veritablebombardment. As they retreated, they came nearer and nearer to meand I could see the revolvers spitting fire in the darkness. Sointent were they on Kennedy that they forgot me. 

I watched them fearfully as they hopped deftly from one stone toanother to avoid the lime--and were gone. 

"Craig! Craig!" I managed to cry feebly. "Be careful. Keep to thestones. "

He strained his eyes toward the ground in the darkness, at thesound of my voice. Then he struck a match and instantly took inthe situation which, to me, under any other circumstances, wouldhave been ludicrous. 

Stepping from stone to stone, he followed the retreating Chinamen. But they had already reached the mouth of the cave and were makingtheir way rapidly down the road to a bend, in the oppositedirection from which we had come. There, Wu's automobile waswaiting. They leaped into it and the driver, without a word, shotthe car off into the darkness of early dawn. 

A moment later, Kennedy appeared, but they had made their getaway. Baffled, he turned and retraced his steps to the cave. 

I don't think that I ever welcomed him more sincerely than I didas, finally, I crawled slowly out from the bird lime, exhausted bythe effort that I had made to free myself from the sticky mess. 

"They got away, Walter, " he said, lighting a lantern they haddropped. "By George, " he added, I think a little vexed that I hadnot been able to stop them, "you are a sight!"

He was about to laugh, when I fainted. I can remember nothinguntil I woke up over by the wall of the chamber where he draggedme. 

Kennedy had been working hard to revive me, and, as I opened myeyes, he straightened up. His eye suddenly caught something on therock beside him. There was a little slot carved in it, and abovethe slot was a peculiar inscription. 

For several minutes, Kennedy puzzled over it, as Wu had done. Thenhe discovered the little cup near the ground. 

"The ring!" he suddenly cried out. 

I was too muddled to appreciate at once what he meant, but I sawhim reach into his fob pocket and draw forth the replica of thetrinket which had caused so much disaster, as if it had beencursed by the Clutching Hand himself. He dropped it into the slot. 

Struggling to my feet, I saw across from me the very rock itselfmoving. Was it an hallucination, born of my nervous condition?

"Look, Craig!" I cried involuntarily, pointing. 

He turned. No, it was not a vision. It actually moved. Together wewatched. Slowly the rock turned on a pivot. There were disclosedto our astonished eyes the hidden millions of the Clutching Hand. 

I looked from the gold and jewels to Kennedy, in speechlessamazement. 

"We have beaten them, anyhow, " I cried. 

Slowly Craig shook his head sadly. 

"Yes, " he murmured, "we have found the Clutching Hand's millions, but we have lost Elaine. "

CHAPTER IV

THE VENGEANCE OF WU FANG

Elaine was still in the power of Wu Fang. 

Kennedy had thwarted the Chinese master criminal in his search forthe millions amassed by the Clutching Hand. But any joy that wemight have derived from this success was completely obscured bythe fear that Wu might wreak some diabolical vengeance on Elaine. 

It was a ticklish situation. In fact, I doubt whether Craig wouldhave discovered the treasure at all, if our pursuit of Wu and LongSin the night before had not literally forced us into doing so. 

Nor were Kennedy's fears unfounded. Wu and Long Sin had scarcelyreached the secret apartment back of the deceptive exterior of theChinatown tenement, when the subtle Chinaman began to contemplatehis revenge. 

Long Sin was smoking a Chinese pipe, resting after their hurriedflight, while Wu, the tireless, was seated at a table at the otherend of the room. At last Wu Fang took up a long Chinese dirk fromthe table before him, looked at it, turned it over, felt its edge. It was keen and the point was sharp. He rose and deliberatelywalked across to a door leading into a back room. 

On a couch lay Elaine and with her, as a guardian, was Weepy Marywhom the Clutching Hand had used to lure her to the church wherethe faked record of her father's marriage was supposed to be. Indeed, though Wu had lost the Clutching Hand's millions, he hadseen his chance and had fallen heir to what was left of Bennett'scriminal organization. 

As Wu, the Serpent, entered and advanced slowly towards Elaine, she crouched back from him in deadly fear. He stopped before herwithout a word and his menacing eye seemed to read her verythoughts. 

Slowly he drew from under his robe the Chinese dirk. He felt theedge of it again and gazed significantly at Elaine. She shrankback even further, as far as the divan would permit. 

It was a critical moment. 

Just then Long Sin entered. "One of the five millions waitsoutside, " he reported simply, with a bow. 

Wu understood. It had been a pleasant fiction of his that althoughhe did not, of course, absolutely control such a stupendousorganization he could, by his subtle power, force almost unlimitedallegiance from the simple coolies in that district of China fromwhich he came. 

Out in the front room, just a moment before, a knock at the doorhad disturbed Long Sin, and a Chinese servant had announced avisitor. Long Sin had waved to the servant to usher him in and apoorly clad coolie had entered. 

He bowed as Long Sin faced him. "Where is the master?" he hadasked. 

Long Sin had not deigned to speak. With a mere wave of his hand, he indicated that he would be the bearer of the message, and hadfollowed Wu through the door of the back room. 

So, almost by chance, Wu was interrupted in the brutal vengeancewhich had first come to his mind. He sheathed the knife and, stillwithout a word, went back into the main room, giving a nod toWeepy Mary to guard Elaine closely. 

Wu eyed the coolie until the newcomer could almost feel themaster's penetrating gaze, although his head was bowed in awe. Quickly the coolie thrust his hand under his blouse and drew fortha package. With another bow, he advanced. 

"For your enemies, oh master, " he said, handing the package overto Wu. 

For the first time since the loss of the treasure, Wu Fang seemedto take an interest in something besides revenge. The cooliestarted to open the package, removed the paper wrapper, and then asilk wrapping inside. Finally he came to a box, from which he drewa leather pouch, each operation conducted with greater care as itbecame evident that the contents were especially precious in someway. Then he took from the pouch a small vial. 

"What is it?" demanded Wu Fang, as the coolie displayed it. 

The coolie drew forth now a magnifying glass and a glass slide. Opening the vial with great care he shook something out on theslide, then placed it under the lens. 

"Look!" he said simply. 

Wu bent over and looked. Under the lens what had formerly seemedto be merely a black speck of dirt became now one of the mostweird and uncanny little creatures to be found in all the realm ofnature. It seemed to be all legs and feelers moving at once. Anormal person would have looked at the creature only with thegreatest repugnance. Wu regarded it with a sort of unholyfascination. 

"And it is?" he queried. 

"What the white man calls the African tick which carries therecurrent fever, " answered the coolie deferentially. 

A flash of intense exultation seemed to darken Wu Fang's sinisterface. Several times he paced up and down the room, as hecontemplated the sight which he had just seen. Then he came to asudden determination. 

"Wait, " he said to the coolie, as he moved slowly again into theback room. 

Long Sin had remained there. With Weepy Mary he was guardingElaine when Wu Fang reentered. Elaine was thoroughly aroused bythis time. Even the fact that Wu no longer held the murderous dirkdid not serve to reassure her, for the look on his face was evenmore terrible than before. 

He smiled cunningly to himself. 

"Suffering is a state of mind, " he said in a low tone, "and I havedecided that it would be poor revenge for me to harm you. You arefree. "

Nothing could have come as a greater surprise to Elaine. Even LongSin had not expected any such speech as this. Elaine, however, waswonder-stricken. 

"Do you--do you really mean it?" she asked, scarcely able tobelieve what her ears heard. 

Wu merely nodded, and with a wave of his hand to Long Sinindicated that Elaine was to be released. 

Long Sin, the slave, did not stop to question his master, butmerely moved over to a closet and took out the hat and wraps whichElaine had worn when she had been kidnapped in the up-townapartment. He handed them over to her and she put them on withtrembling hands. 

No one stopped her and she nerved herself to take several stepstoward the door. She had scarcely crossed half the room. 

"Wait!" ordered Wu sharply. 

Was he merely torturing her, as a cat might torture a mouse? Shestopped obediently, afraid to look at him. 

"This will be the vengeance of Wu Fang, " he went on impressively. "Slowly, one by one, your friends will weaken and die, then yourfamily, until finally only you are left. Then will come yourturn. "

He stopped again and raised his long lean forefinger. "Go, " hehissed. "I wish you much joy. "

He turned to Long Sin and whispered a word to him. A moment later, Long Sin drew forth a large silken handkerchief and tied ittightly over Elaine's eyes. Then he took her hand and led her out. There was to be no chance by which she could lead a raiding partyback to the den in which she had been held. 

I don't think that in all our friendship I have ever seen Kennedyso utterly depressed as he was when we returned after thediscovery of the vast fortune which Bennett had cleverly secreted. I came upon him in the laboratory the next morning while he wastrying to read. He had laid aside his scientific work, and now hehad even laid aside his book. 

There seemed to be absolutely nothing to do until some new clueturned up. I placed my hand on his shoulder, but the words thatwould encourage him died on my lips. Several times I started tospeak, but each time I checked myself. There did not seem to beanything that would be appropriate for such an occasion. 

A sharp ring at the telephone made both of us fairly jump, sonervous had we become. Kennedy reached over instantly for theinstrument in the vague hope that at last there was some news. 

As I watched his face, it changed first from despair to wonder, and finally it seemed to light up with the most remarkable look ofrelief and happiness that one could imagine. 

"I shall be right over, " he cried, jamming the receiver down onthe hook, and in the same motion reaching for his hat and coat. "Walter, " he cried, "it is Elaine! They have let her go!"

I seized my own hat and coat in time to follow him and we dashedout of the laboratory. 

The suspense under which Aunt Josephine had been living had toldon her. Her niece, Elaine's cousin, Mary Brown, who lived atRockledge, had come into the city to comfort Aunt Josephine andthey had been sitting, that morning, in the library. Marie, themaid was busy about the room, while Aunt Josephine talked sadlyover Elaine's strange disappearance. She was on the verge oftears. 

Suddenly a startled cry from Jennings out in the hall caused bothladies to jump to their feet. They could scarcely believe whatthey heard as the faithful old butler cried out the name. 

"Why--Miss Elaine!" he gasped. 

An instant later Elaine herself burst into the room and flungherself into Aunt Josephine's arms. All talking and half cryingfrom joy at once, they crowded about her. Breathlessly sheanswered the questions that flew thick and fast. 

In the excitement Aunt Josephine had seized the telephone andcalled our number. She did not even wait to break the good news, but handed the telephone to Elaine herself. 

We left the laboratory on the run, too fast to notice that justaround the building line at the corner stood a limousine withshades drawn. Even if we had paused to glance back, we could nothave seen Wu Fang and Long Sin inside, gazing out through thecorner of the curtains. They were in European dress now and hadevidently come prepared for just what they knew was likely tohappen. 

In all the strange series of events, I doubt whether we had evermade better time from the laboratory over to the Dodge house thanwe did now. We were admitted by the faithful Jennings and almostran into the library. 

"Oh, Craig!" cried Elaine, as Kennedy, almost speechless, seizedher by both hands. 

For a few seconds none of us could speak. Then followed averitable flood of eager conversation. 

I watched Elaine carefully, in fact we all did, for she seemed, inspite of the excitement of her return, to be almost a completenervous wreck from the terrible experiences she had undergone. 

"Won't you come and stay with me a few days up in the country, dear?" urged Mary at last. 

Elaine thought a moment, then turned to Aunt Josephine. 

"Yes, " considered her aunt, "I think it would do you good. "

Still she hesitated; then shyly looked at Kennedy and laughed. "You, too, Craig, must be fagged out, " she said frankly. "Come upthere with us and take a rest. "

Kennedy smiled. "I shall be delighted, " he accepted promptly. 

"You, too, Mr. Jameson, " she added, turning to me. 

I hesitated a moment and Kennedy tried to catch my eye. I was justabout to speak when he brought his heel down sharply on my toe. Ilooked at him again and caught just the trace of a nod of hishead. I saw that I was de trop. 

"No, thank you, " I replied. "I'm afraid I'd better not go. Really, I have too much work staring at me. I can't get away--but it'svery kind of you to think of asking me. "

We chatted, then left a few moments later so that Kennedy couldpack. 

Around the corner from the laboratory, as we dashed out, had been, as I have said, Wu Fang and Long Sin looking out from thelimousine. No sooner had we disappeared across the campus thantheir driver started up the car and they sped around to ourapartment. 

Cautiously they alighted and walked down the street. Then makingsure they were not observed, they entered and mounted the stairsto our doorway. Long Sin was stationed down the hall on guardwhile Wu Fang drew from his pocket a blank key, a file and acandle. He lighted the candle and held the key in its flame untilit was covered with soot. 

Then he inserted the key in the keyhole, turned it and took thekey out. Working quickly now, he examined the key sharply. In thesoot were slight scratches indicating where it struck andprevented the turning of the lock. He filed the key, trying itagain and again. Finally he finished, and opened the door. Beckoning Long Sin, he entered our rooms. 

As they stood there, Wu Fang gazed about our living-room, keenly. He was evidently considering where to place something, for, oneafter another, he picked up several articles on the desk andexamined them. Each time that he laid one down he shook his head. 

Finally his eye rested on the telephone. It seemed to suggest anidea to him and he crossed over to it. Carefully holding down thereceiver on the hook, he unscrewed the case which holds thediaphragm, while with his clever fingers he held the rest of theinstrument intact. Then he removed from his pocket the vial whichthe coolie had given him and placed its contents on the diaphragmitself. Quickly now he replaced the receiver, and, having finishedtheir work, Long Sin and Wu Fang stealthily crept out. 

A second time, as we approached our apartment after the visit toElaine, we were too excited to notice the limousine in which wereWu and Long Sin. But no sooner had we entered than Long Sin leftthe car with a final word of instruction from his master. 

Up-stairs, in the apartment, Kennedy began hurriedly to pack, andI helped him as well as I could. We were in the midst of it whenthe telephone rang and I answered it. 

"Hello!" I called. 

There was no response. 

"Hello, Hello!" I repeated, raising my voice. 

Still there was no answer. I worked the hook up and down but couldget no reply. Finally, disgusted, I hung up. 

A moment later, I recall now, it seemed to me as though some onehad stuck a pin into the lobe of my ear. Still, I thought nothingof it in the excitement of Kennedy's departure, and went to workagain to help him pack. 

We had scarcely got back to work, when the telephone bell jangledagain, and a second time I answered it. 

"Is Mr. Kennedy there?" came back a strange voice. 

I handed the instrument to Craig. 

"Hello, " he called. "Who is this?"

No response. 

"Hello, hello, " he shouted, working the hook as I had done and, asin my case, there was still no answer. 

"Some crank, " he exclaimed, jamming down the receiver in disgustand returning to his packing. 

Neither of us thought anything of it at the time, but now I recallthat I did see Kennedy once or twice press the lobe of his ear asthough something had hurt it. 

We did not know until later that in a pay station down the streetour arch enemy, Long Sin, had been calling us up and then, with awicked smile, refusing to speak to us. 

 . . . . . . . 

It was about a week later that I came home late one night from theStar, feeling pretty done up. Whatever it was, a violent feverseemed to have come on me suddenly. I thought nothing of it, atfirst, because I soon grew better. But while it lasted, I had themost intense shivering, excruciating pains in my limbs, anddelirious headache. I recall, too, that I felt a peculiar sorenesson the ear. It was all like nothing I had ever had before. 

Indeed the next morning when I woke up, I felt a lassitude thatmade it quite hard enough even to lounge about in my bath-robe. Finally, feeling no better, I decided to see a doctor. I put on myclothes with a decided effort and went out. 

The nearest doctor was about half a block away and we scarcelyknew him, for neither Kennedy nor I were exactly sickly. 

"Well, " asked the doctor, as he closed the door of his office andturned to me. "What seems to be the matter?"

I tried to smile. "I feel as though I had been celebrating notwisely but too well, " I replied, trying to cheer up, "but as amatter of fact I have been leading the simple life. "

He sounded me and pounded me, looked at my tongue and my eyes, listened to my heart and lungs, though I don't think he treated mysymptoms very seriously. In fact, I might have known what he woulddo. He talked a little while on generalities, diet and exercisethen walked over to a cabinet, and emptied out a few pills into alittle paper box. 

"Take one every hour, " he said, handing them to me, and carefullyreturning the bottle to the cabinet so that I could not see whatwas on the label. "Cut your cigarettes to three a day, and don'tdrink coffee. Four dollars, please. "

I suppose I ought to have been cured, and in fact I was cured--ofgoing to that doctor. I paid him and went back to the apartment, my head soon in a whirl from a new onset of the fever. 

I managed to get back into my bath-robe, and threw myself down onthe divan, propped up with pillows. I had taken the pills but theyhad no more effect than sugar of milk. By this time, I was muchmore delirious and was crying out. 

I saw faces about me, but I did not see the faces which wereactually out by our hall door. Wu Fang and Long Sin had waitedpatiently for their revenge. Now that they thought sufficient timehad elapsed, they had stolen stealthily to the apartment door. While Long Sin watched, Wu listened. 

"The white devil has it, " whispered Wu Fang, as he rejoined hisfellow conspirator. 

How long I should have remained in this state, and in fact howlong I did remain, I don't know. Vaguely, I recall that ouracquaintance, Johnson, who had the apartment across the hall, atlast heard my cries and came out to his own door. He needed only amoment to listen at ours to know that something was wrong. 

"Why, what's the matter, Jameson?" he asked, poking his head inand looking anxiously at me. 

I could only rave some reply, and he tried his best to quiet me. "What's the matter, old man?" he repeated. "Tell me. Shall I sendfor a doctor?"

Somehow or other I knew the state I was in. I knew it was Johnson, yet it all seemed unreal to me. With a great effort I gathered allmy scattered wits and managed to shout out, "Telegraph Kennedy--Rockledge. "

By this time Johnson himself was thoroughly alarmed. He did notlose a second in dictating a telegram over the telephone. 

 . . . . . . . 

At about the same time, up at Rockledge, Kennedy and Elaine, withher cousin Mary Brown, were starting out for a horseback ridethrough the hills. They were chatting gaily, but Kennedy wasforcing himself to do so. 

In fact, they had scarcely gone half a mile when Kennedy, who wasriding between the two and fighting off by sheer nerve the illnesshe felt, suddenly fell over in half a faint on the horse's neck. Elaine and Mary reined up their horses. 

"Why, Craig, " cried Elaine, startled, "what's the matter?"

The sound of her voice seemed to arouse him. He braced up. "Oh, nothing, I guess, " he said with a forced smile. "I'm all right. "

It was no use, however. They had to cut short the ride, andKennedy returned to the house, glad to drop down in an easy chairon the porch, while Elaine hovered about him solicitously. Hishead buzzed, his skin was hot and dry, his eyes had an unnaturallook. Every now and then he would place his hand to his ear asthough he felt some pain. 

They had already summoned the country doctor, but it took him sometime to get out to the house. Suddenly a messenger boy rode up onhis bicycle and mounted the porch steps. "Telegram for Mr. Kennedy, " he announced, looking about and picking out Craignaturally as the person he wanted. 

Kennedy nodded and took the yellow envelope while Elaine signedfor it. Listlessly he tore it open. It read:

CRAIG KENNEDY, c/o Wellington Brown, Rockledge, N. J. 

Jameson very ill. Wants you. Better come. 

JOHNSON. 

The message seemed to rouse Kennedy in spite of his fever. Hisface showed keen alarm, which he endeavored to conceal fromElaine. But her quick eye had caught the look. 

"I must see Walter, " he exclaimed, rising rather weakly and goinginto the house. 

How he ever did it is still, I think, a mystery to him, but hemanaged to pack up and, in spite of the alternating fever andchills, made the journey back to the city. 

When at last Craig arrived at our apartment, it must have seemedto him that he found me almost at death's door. I was terribly illand weak by that time, but had refused to see the doctor again andJohnson had managed to get me into bed. 

Ill himself, Kennedy threw himself down for a moment exhausted. "When did this thing come on Walter?" he asked of Johnson. 

"Yesterday, I think, at least as nearly as I can find out, "replied our friend. 

Craig was decidedly worried. "There's only one person in New Yorkto call on, " he murmured, pulling himself out of bed and gettinginto the living-room as best he could. 

"Is that you, Godowski?" he asked over the telephone. "Well, doctor, this is Kennedy. Come over to my apartment, quick. I've acase--two cases for you. "

Godowski was a world-famous scientist in his line and hadspecialized in bacteriology, mainly in tropical diseases. 

As Kennedy hung up the receiver, he made his way back again to thebedroom, scratching his ear. He noticed that I was doing the samein my delirium. 

"Has Walter been scratching his ear?" he asked of Johnson. 

Johnson nodded. "That's strange, " considered Craig thoughtfully. "I've been doing the same. "

He turned back into the living-room and for a moment looked about. Finally his eye happened to fall on the telephone and an ideaseemed to occur to him. 

He went over to the instrument and unscrewed the receiver. Carefully he looked inside. Then he looked closer. There wassomething peculiar about it and he picked up a blank sheet ofwhite paper, dusting off the diaphragm on it. There, on the paper, were innumerable little black specks. 

Just then, outside, Dr. Godowski's car drew up and he jumped out, swinging his black bag. Not being acquainted with what we weregoing through, Godowski did not notice the almond-eyed Chinamanwho was watching down the street. 

"How do you do, doctor, " greeted Craig faintly, at the door. 

"What seems to be the difficulty?" inquired the doctor eagerly. 

"I don't know, " returned Craig, "but I have my suspicions. I'm tooill to verify them myself. So I've called on you. Look at Jamesonfirst, " he added. 

While Godowski was examining me, Craig managed to get out hismicroscope and was looking through it at the strange black speckson the paper. There, under the lens, he could see the mostremarkable, almost microscopic creature, all legs and feelers, amost vicious object. 

Weak though he was, he could not help an exclamation of exultationat his discovery, just as Godowski had finished with me. 

"Look!" he cried, calling the doctor. "I know what the trouble is, Godowski. "

He had started to tell, but the excitement of the journey and theexertion were so great that he could hardly mumble. 

"Here--look--on this paper, " he cried. "From the telephone--"

He had risen and was handing the paper to the scientist when hisweakness overcame him. He fell flat on his face on the floor anddropped the paper, spilling the contents. 

Godowski, now thoroughly alarmed, bent over Craig. But thedelirium had overcome Kennedy, too. 

Unable to make any sense out of Craig's broken wanderings, Godowski lost no time in taking samples of our blood. 

Then he hurried away to his laboratory in his car. As he did so, however, Long Sin leaped into a taxicab which was waiting andfollowed. 

 . . . . . . . 

In Godowski's laboratory, where he was studying tropical diseases, the bacteriologist set to work at once to confirm his own growingsuspicions. 

From a monkey which he had there for experimental purposes, hedrew off some blood samples. Then, with the aid of his assistant, he took the blood samples he had obtained from us. The monkey'sblood, under the microscope, seemed full of rather elongatedwriggling germs of a peculiar species. In and out they made theirway among the blood corpuscles each like a dart aimed at lifeitself. 

Then he took the samples of our blood. In them were the samegerms--carried by that gruesome tick!

"The spirillum!" he muttered. "They are infected with Africanrecurrent fever. The only remedy is atoxyl, administeredintravenously, after the manner of Professor Ehrlich's famous'606'. "

Godowski had rung the call box hastily for a messenger, when LongSin, who had managed stealthily to creep up to the doctor'slaboratory window, scowled, through at the action--then movedaway. 

While his assistant gathered the apparatus, the doctor wrote:

MISS ANNE SEPTIX, 301 W. --th St. 

Please go at once to the apartment of Craig Kennedy, --ClaremontAve. Surgical case. 

GODOWSKI, M. D. 

The boy arrived finally and the doctor gave him a generous tip tohurry with the note. 

He had not turned the corner, however, when Long Sin appeared. Subtly he played on the boy's cupidity to get him to deliver anote of his own, even offered to deliver the boy's note for him. The flash of a five dollar bill made the rest easy. 

As the boy disappeared on a fake errand, Long Sin, with the realnote hurried down-town, smiling wickedly. 

"They have discovered the fever, Master, " he reported in the den. 

Wu was beside himself with rage. Before he could speak, however, Long Sin spread out Godowski's message. "But I have this, " headded. 

It took merely a glance to suggest to Wu a new plan of action. Herose and moved quickly into the back room. "Come, " he orderedWeepy Mary. "You must dress up as a nurse--immediately. "

Quickly she donned one of the numerous disguises while Wu plannedhis campaign. 

"Here, " he directed when she was ready, handing her a little vial. "You must infect every instrument the doctor uses on Kennedy andJameson, --see?"

She nodded and a moment later was on her way uptown. 

 . . . . . . . 

Meanwhile Godowski himself had arrived at our apartment, much tothe relief of our friend Johnson, and was unpacking hisinstruments. 

Quickly he improvised two operating tables, and placed one of uson each. Then, with his assistant, he put on his white robes, mask, gloves and other precautions for asepsis, setting out theapparatus for the intravenous administration of the drug thatwould kill the spirillum. Godowski was busy with the atoxyl, mixing it in a normal salt solution. He would drop in a few dropsof an acid, then a few drops of an alkaline solution, so as tokeep the mixture neutral. Finally, he poured the solution into acontainer, to the bottom of which was attached a long tube. Thiscontainer he raised high over our heads, clamping the tube. 

Then he fastened a tiny needle to the end of the tube, so that itcould be inserted in our arms, catching skillfully a vein--a verydifficult piece of work in which he excelled. The liquid wouldthen flow by the force of gravity from the container down throughthe tube, through the hollow needle and into the vein where itwould act on the germs of the fever. 

They had finished their preparations and were waiting for MissSeptix. "She ought to be here, now, " muttered Godowskiimpatiently, looking at his watch. 

Just then a cab drove up outside. 

"Perhaps that is she, " he exclaimed. "It must be. "

A few moments later the door of the apartment opened. His faceshowed his disappointment. It was a stranger. 

"Miss Septix is ill, " she introduced, "and sent me to take herplace. "

The doctor looked about. "Very well, then, " he said briskly, seeing his preparations. "Are you ready to go ahead?"

She nodded and threw off her coat that covered her immaculatewhite uniform. 

The specialist plunged whole-heartedly into his work of saving usnow. "Hand me that needle, please, " he directed the false nurse. 

She moved over to the table near-by and took it up, pausing onlylong enough to dip it secretly into a vial she carried with her. 

"Please hurry, " repeated the doctor. 

She turned from the table and handed it to him. He adjusted it andalready held it poised for the thrust which was not to cure but topoison us further. 

"Weepy Mary!" cried a frightened voice at our door. 

Elaine had been deeply alarmed by the sudden illness of Kennedyand the message from Jameson. No sooner had Kennedy gone, than itflashed over her that Wu Fang had predicted something like this. 

"The threat!" she exclaimed, seeking her cousin. "Mary, I must goto the city--right away. "

On the next train, then, she had been speeding back to New York, and, arriving at the station, she realized that there was not amoment to lose. She called a cab, drove directly to our apartment, and hurried in, without even ringing the bell. 

One glance at the improvised hospital was enough to alarm her. Butthe sight that had transfixed her was of a woman whose face sheremembered only too well, though Kennedy and I had never seen her. 

"Please, Miss, " began Godowski's assistant, trying to quietElaine, while Godowski turned in vexation to his work. 

"No, no!" repeated Elaine. "This woman is no nurse. She is acriminal!"

Godowski paused. It was true he did not know the woman. He gazedfrom Elaine to Weepy Mary in doubt. 

The game was up. Weepy Mary dropped a piece of gauze which she hadsoaked in the solution from the vial which Wu had given her andbolted for the door. 

So sudden was her flight that no one was quick enough to stop her. She managed to reach the hall and slam the door. Down she rushedto the street, Godowski's assistant after her. 

There, awaiting, was Long Sin's car. She leaped in and was off ina moment. The assistant had just time to dive at the running-board. But his grip was poor and Long Sin easily threw him off. 

"You--you fool!" he hissed at Mary, as soon as the danger ofpursuit was over and the assistant had gone back into theapartment. 

"Oh, sir, " she begged, "it was not my fault. Miss Dodge came in--unexpectedly--she recognized me. If I had not fled, they wouldhave caught me--perhaps you, too. "

Long Sin was furious. He threatened her and she cowered back. However, there was nothing to be gained by that and he subsidedand drove quickly down-town. 

The excitement more than ever alarmed Elaine now. "Tell me, " sheappealed to Dr. Godowski, "what is the matter?"

"In some way, " he replied quickly, "they have become infected bythe bite of an African tick which carries spirillum fever. "

"She got away, in a cab, " panted the assistant, returning. 

Godowski raised his hands in despair. "I was just about to start, "he cried. "Everything is ready. I can't send for another nurse. Every minute counts. "

Elaine had thrown off her coat and hat. Her sleeves were up in amoment and before the doctor knew what she was about she wasscrubbing her hands in the antiseptic wash. 

"Only--show me--what to do, " she cried. "I will be the nurse!"

 . . . . . . . 

Several days later, when we had recovered sufficiently from thediabolical attack that had been made upon us, Kennedy was again atwork in the laboratory, while I was writing. We still felt ratherweak, but Godowski's skill had pulled us out all right. 

Our speaking-tube sounded and I knew that it was Elaine and AuntJosephine. 

"How do you feel?" inquired Elaine anxiously, as she almost ranacross the laboratory to Craig. 

"Fine!" he exaggerated, brightly. 

"Really?" she repeated anxiously. 

"Look!" he said, turning to his microscope. 

He took some blood from a test tube in our electric incubator andplaced a drop on a slide. It was some of the blood infected by thegerms carried by the tick. 

"That is how our blood looked--before the new nurse arrived, " hesmiled, while Elaine looked at it in horror. 

Then he pricked his arm and let a drop smear on another slide. 

"Now look at that--perfectly normal, " he added. 

"Oh--I'm so glad, " she exclaimed radiantly. 

"Normal--thanks to you. You saved us. You were just in time, "cried Craig taking both her hands in his. 

He was about to kiss her, when she broke away. "Craig, " shewhispered, blushing and looking hastily at us. 

Aunt Josephine and I could only smile at the disgusted glanceCraig gave us, as he thrust his hands in his pockets and wished usa thousand miles away at that moment. 

CHAPTER V

SHADOWS OF WAR

For a long time Kennedy had, I knew, been at work at odd momentsin the laboratory secretly. What it was that he was working on, even I was unable to guess, so closely had he guarded his secret. But that it was something momentous, I was assured. 

Long Sin had already been arrested and it was a day or two afterthe escape of Wu himself who had come just in time to prevent theconfession by one of his emissaries of the whereabouts of hissecret den. Kennedy had Chase and another detective whom hefrequently employed on routine matters at work over the cluesdeveloped by his use of the sphygmograph. Elaine, anxious fornews, had dropped in on us at the laboratory just as Kennedy washastily opening his mail. 

Craig came to a large letter with an official look, slit open theenvelope, and unfolded the letter. "Hurrah!" he cried, jumping upand thrusting the letter before us. "Read that. "

Across the top of the paper were embossed in blue the formidablewords:

United States Navy Department, Washington, D. C. 

The letter was most interesting:

PROFESSOR CRAIG KENNEDY, The University, New York City. 

DEAR SIR, Your telautomatic torpedo model was tested yesterday and I takegreat pleasure in stating that it was entirely successful. Thereis no doubt that the United States is safe from attack as long aswe retain its secret. 

Very sincerely yours, DANIEL WATERS, Ass't Sec'y. 

"Oh, Craig, " congratulated Elaine, as she handed back the note. "I'm so glad for your sake. How famous you will be!"

"When are we going to see the wonderful invention, Craig?" I addedas I grasped his hand and, in return, he almost broke the bones inmine wringing it. 

"As soon as you wish, " he replied, moving over to the safe near-byand opening it. "Here's the only other model in existence besidesthe model I sent to Washington. "

He held up before us a cigar-shaped affair of steel, about eightinches long, with a tiny propeller and rudder of a size tocorrespond. Above was a series of wires, four or five inches inlength, which, he explained, were the aerials by which the torpedowas controlled. 

"The principle of the thing, " he went on proudly, "is that I usewireless waves to actuate relays on the torpedo. The power is inthe torpedo; the relay releases it. That is, I send a child with amessage; the grown man, through the relay, does the work. So, yousee, I can sit miles away in safety and send my little David outanywhere to strike down a huge Goliath. "

It was not difficult to catch his enthusiasm over the marvellousinvention, though we could not follow him through the mazes ofexplanation about radio-combinators, telecommutators and the restof the technicalities. I may say, however, that on his radio-combinator he had a series of keys marked "Forward, " "Back, ""Start, " "Stop, " "Rudder Right, " "Rudder Left, " and so on. 

He had scarcely finished his brief description when there came aknock at the door. I answered it. It was Chase and his assistant, whom Kennedy had employed in the affair. 

"We've found the place on Pell Street that we think is Wu Fang's, "they reported excitedly. "It's in number fourteen, as you thought. We've left an operative disguised as a blind beggar to watch theplace. "

"Oh, good!" exclaimed Elaine, as Craig and I hurried out afterChase and his man with her. "May I go with you?"

"Really, Elaine, " objected Craig, "I don't think it's safe. There's no telling what may happen. In fact, I think Walter and Ihad better not be seen there even with Chase. "

She pouted and pleaded, but Craig was obdurate. Finally sheconsented to wait for us at home provided we brought her the newsat the earliest moment and demonstrated the wonderful torpedo aswell. Craig was only too glad to promise and we waved good-bye asher car whisked her off. 

Half an hour later we turned into Chinatown from the shadow of theelevated railroad on Chatham Square, doing our best to affect aBowery slouch. 

We had not gone far before we came to the blind beggar. He wassitting by number fourteen with a sign on his breast, grindingindustriously at a small barrel organ before him on which rested atin cup. 

We passed him and Kennedy took out a coin from his pocket anddropped it into the cup. As he did so, he thrust his hand into thecup and quickly took out a piece of paper which he palmed. 

The blind beggar thanked and blessed us, and we dodged into adoorway where Kennedy opened the paper: "Wu Fang gone out. "

"What shall we do?" I asked. 

"Go in anyhow, " decided Kennedy quickly. 

We left the shelter of the doorway and walked boldly up to thedoor. Deftly Kennedy forced it and we entered. 

We had scarcely mounted the stairs to the den of the Serpent, whena servant in a back room, hearing a noise, stuck his head in thedoor. Kennedy and I made a dash at him and quickly overpoweredhim, snapping the bracelets on his wrists. 

"Watch him, Walter, " directed Craig as he made his way into theback room. 

 . . . . . . . 

In the devious plots and schemes of Wu Fang, his nefarious workhad brought him into contact not only with criminals of the lowestorder but with those high up in financial and diplomatic circles. 

Thus it happened that at such a crisis as Kennedy had broughtabout for him Wu had suddenly been called out of the city and hadreceived an order from a group of powerful foreign agents knownsecretly as the Intelligence Office to meet an emissary at acertain rocky promontory on the Connecticut shore of Long IslandSound the very day after Kennedy's little affair with him in thelaboratory and the day before the letter from Washington arrived. 

Though he was mortally afraid of Kennedy's pursuit, there wasnothing to do but obey this imperative summons. Quietly he slippedout of town, the more readily when he realized that the summonswould take him not far from the millionaire cottage colony whereElaine had her summer home, which, however, she had not yetopened. 

There, on the rocky shore, he sat gazing out at the waves, waiting, when suddenly, from around the promontory, came a boatrowed by two stalwart sailors. It carried as passengers two dark-complexioned, dark-haired men, foreigners evidently, thoughcarefully dressed so as to conceal both their identity andnationality. 

As the boat came up to a strip of sandy beach among the rocks, thesailors held it while their two passengers jumped out. Then theyrowed away as quickly as they had come. 

The two mysterious strangers saluted Wu. 

"We are under orders from the Intelligence Office, " introduced onewho seemed to be the leader, "to get this American, Kennedy. "

A subtle smile overspread Wu's face. He said nothing but thisadventure promised to serve more than one end. "Information hasjust come to us, " the stranger went on, "that Kennedy has inventeda new wireless automatic torpedo. Already a letter is on its wayinforming him that it has been accepted by the Navy. "

The other man who had been drawing a cigar-shaped outline on thewet sand looked up. "We must get those models, " he put in, adding, "both of them--the one he has and that the government has. Can itbe done?"

"I can get them, " answered Wu sinisterly. 

And so, while Kennedy was drawing together the net about Wu, thatwily criminal had already planned an attack on him in anunexpected quarter. 

Down in Washington the very morning that our pursuit of Wu came toa head, the officials of the navy department, both naval andcivil, were having the final conference at which they were toaccept officially Kennedy's marvellous invention which, it wasconfidently believed, would ultimately make war impossible. 

Seated about a long table in one of the board rooms were not onlythe officers but the officials of the department whose sanctionwas necessary for the final step. By a window sat a stenographerwho was transcribing, as they were taken, the notes of themomentous meeting. 

They had just completed the examination of the torpedo and laid iton the end of the table scarcely an arm's length from thestenographer. As he finished a page of notes he glanced quickly athis watch. It was exactly three o'clock. 

Hastily he reached over for the torpedo and with one swift, silentmovement tossed it out of the window. 

Down below, in a clump of rhododendrons, for several moments hadbeen crouching one of the men who had borne the orders to Wu Fangat the strange meeting on the promontory. 

His eyes seemed riveted at the window above him. Suddenly thesupreme moment for which this dastardly plot had been timed came. As the torpedo model dropped from the window, he darted forward, caught it, turned, and in an instant he was gone. 

 . . . . . . . 

Wu Fang himself had returned after setting in motion the forceswhich he found necessary to call to aid the foreign agents intheir plots against Kennedy's torpedo. 

As Wu approached the door of his den and was about to enter, hiseye fell on our outpost, the blind beggar. Instantly hissuspicions were aroused. He looked the beggar over with a frown, thought a moment, then turned and instead of entering went up thestreet. 

He made the circuit of the block and now came to an alley on thenext street that led back of the building in which he had his den. Still frowning, he gazed about, saw that he was not followed, andentered a doorway. 

Up the stairs he made his way until he came to an empty loft. Quickly he went over to the blank wall and began feelingcautiously about as if for a secret spring hidden in the plaster. 

"No one in the back room, " said Kennedy rejoining me in the denitself with the prisoner. "He's out, all right. "

Before Craig was a mirror. As he looked into it, at an angle, hecould see a part of the decorations of the wall behind himactually open out. For an instant the evil face of Wu Fangappeared. 

Without a word, Craig walked into the back room. As he did so, WuFang, knife in hand, stealthily opened the sliding panel its fulllength and noiselessly entered the room behind me. With knifeupraised for instant action he moved closer and closer to me. Hehad almost reached me and paused to gloat as he poised the knifeready to strike, when I heard a shout from Kennedy, and a scuffle. 

Craig had leaped out from behind a screen near the doorway to theback room where he had hidden to lure Wu on. With a powerfulgrasp, he twisted the knife from Wu's hand and it fell with aclatter on the floor. I was at Wu myself an instant later. He wasa powerful fighter, but we managed to snap the handcuffs on himfinally, also. 

"Walter, " panted Kennedy straightening himself out after thefracas, "I'll stay here with the prisoners. Go get the police. "

I hurried out and rushed down the street seeking an officer. 

Up in the den, Wu Fang, silent, stood with his back to the wall, scowling sullenly. Close beside him hung a sort of bell-cord, justout of reach. Kennedy, revolver in hand, was examining thewriting-table to discover whatever evidence he could. Slowly, imperceptibly, inch by inch, Wu moved toward the bell-cord. He wasreaching out with his manacled hands to seize it when Kennedy, alert, turned, saw him, and instantly shot. Wu literally crumpledup and dropped to the floor as Craig bounded over to him. 

By this time I had found a policeman and he had summoned the wagonfrom the Elizabeth Street station, a few blocks away. As we droveup before the den, I leaped out and the police followed. 

Imagine my surprise at seeing Wu stretched on the floor. Kennedyhad tried to staunch the flow of blood from a wound on Wu'sshoulder with a handkerchief and now was making a temporarybandage which he bound on him. 

"How are you, sergeant?" nodded Kennedy. "Well, I guess you'lladmit I made good this time. "

The sergeant smiled, recalling a previous occasion when theslippery Wu had squirmed through our fingers. 

Kennedy's restless eye fell on the bell-rope which had caused thetrouble. Somehow, he seemed to have an irresistible desire to pullthat rope. He gazed about the room. 

"Walter, you and the sergeant take the prisoners into the nextroom, " he said. "I want to see what this thing really is. "

We moved Wu and his servant and stood in the doorway. Craig gavethe rope a yank. 

Instantly there was an explosion. A concealed shotgun in the wallfired, scattering shot all over the front of Wu's table, justwhere we had been standing, knocking over and breaking vases, scattering papers and in general wrecking everything before it. 

"So, that's it, " whistled Craig. "You fellows can come back now. Two of you men I'm going to leave here to watch the place and makeother arrests if you can. Come on. "

With Kennedy I left the tenement while the sergeant marched theprisoners out, and we drove off with them. Quite a crowd hadcollected outside by the time we came out. Among them, naturally, were many Chinamen, and we could not see two of them hiding behindthe rest on the outskirts, jabbering in low tones together andmaking hasty plans. As we clanged away down the street theyfollowed more slowly on foot. 

Common humanity dictated that we take Wu first of all to ahospital and get him fixed up and to a hospital we went. Kennedyand I entered with our prisoners, closely guarded by the police. 

Craig handed Wu over to two young doctors and a nurse. By thistime Wu was very weak from loss of blood. Still he had his ironnerve and that was carrying him through. The two young doctors andthe nurse had scarcely begun to take off Craig's rude bandage toreplace it properly, when a noise outside told us that a weepingand gesticulating delegation of Chinese had arrived. 

"Keep 'em back, " called one of the doctors to an attendant. Theattendant tried to drive them away, but nothing could force themback more than an inch or two as, in broken English, they soughtto find out how Wu was. Their importunity proved too much for onlyone attendant. Still gibbering and gesticulating, the crowdbrushed past him as if he had been a mere reed. The attendantraged about until he lost his head. But it was no use. There wasnothing for him to do but to follow them in. 

Kennedy by this time had finished talking to the doctors andhanding Wu over to them. They had taken him into a room in thedispensary. Just then the chattering crowd pushed in, some askingquestions, others bewailing the fate of the great Wu Fang. Theywere so insistent that at last one of the doctors was forced todemand that the police drive them out. They started to push themback. 

In the melee, one of their number managed to get away from therest and reach the doorway to the emergency room. He was, as wefound out later, dressed almost precisely like Wu, although he hadon a somewhat different cap. In build and size as well as featureshe was a veritable Dromio. 

The other Chinaman drew back behind the screen which hid thedoorway to the emergency room and concealed himself. 

Meanwhile, Kennedy and I were laughing at the truly ludicrousantics of the astounded Celestials, thunderstruck at the captureof the peerless leader, while the police forced them back. 

"Well, good-bye, " nodded Craig to the first doctor and nurse whohad attended Wu Fang outside. 

"Good-bye. We'll fix him up and take good care that he doesn'tcheat the law, " they said, with a nod to the sergeant. 

 . . . . . . . 

In the emergency room, Wu was placed on an operating table andthere was bound up properly, though he was terribly weak now. 

Back of the screen, however, the other Chinaman was hiding, ableto get an occasional glance at what was going on. There happenedto be a table near him on which were gauze, cotton and otherthings. He reached over and took the gauze and quickly made itinto a bandage, keeping one eye on the bandaging of Wu. Then heplaced the bandage over his own shoulder and arm in the same waythat he saw the doctors doing with Wu. 

They had finished with Wu and one of the doctors moved over to thedoorway to call the sergeant. For the moment the rest had left Wualone, his eyes apparently half closed through weakness. Each wasbusy about his own especial task. 

From behind the screen which was only a few feet from theoperating table, the secreted Chinaman stepped out. Quickly heplaced his own hat on Wu and took Wu's, then took Wu's place onthe table while Wu slipped behind the screen. 

The doctor turned to the supposed Wu. "Come now, " he ordered, handing him over to the police. "Here he is at last. "

The sergeant started to lead the prisoner out. As he did so, helooked sharply at him. He could scarcely believe his eyes. Therewas something wrong. All Chinaman might look alike to some peoplebut not to him. 

"That's not Wu Fang!" he exclaimed. 

Instantly there was the greatest excitement. The doctors wereastounded as all rushed into the emergency room again. One of themlooked behind the screen. There was an open window. 

"That's how he got away, " he cried. 

Meanwhile, several blocks from the hospital, Wu, still weak butmore than ever nerved up, came out of his place of concealment, gazed up and down the street, and, seeing no one following, hurried away from the hospital as fast as his shaky legs wouldbear him. 

 . . . . . . . 

Confident that at last our arch enemy was safely landed in thehands of the police, Kennedy and I had left the hospital and werehastening to Elaine with the news. We stopped at the laboratoryonly long enough to get the torpedo from the safe and at a toystore where Craig bought a fine little clockwork battleship. 

We found Elaine and Aunt Josephine in the conservatory and quicklyKennedy related how we had captured Wu. 

But, like all inventors, his pet was the torpedo and soon we wereabsorbed in his description of it. As he unwrapped it, Elaine drewback, timidly, from the fearful engine of destruction. 

Kennedy smiled. "No, it isn't dangerous, " he said reassuringly. "I've removed its charge and put in a percussion cap. Let me showyou, on a small scale, how it works, " he added, winding up thebattleship and placing it in the fountain. 

Next he placed the torpedo in the water at the other end of thetank. "Come over here, " he said, indicating to us to follow himinto the palms. 

There he had placed the strange wireless apparatus whichcontrolled the torpedo. He pressed a lever. We peered out throughthe fronds of the palms. That uncanny little cigar-shaped thingactually started to move over the surface of the water. 

"Of course I could make it dive, " explained Craig, "but I want youto see it work. "

Around the tank it went, turned, cut a figure eight, as Kennedymanipulated the levers. Then it headed straight toward thebattleship. It struck. There was a loud report, a spurt of water. One of the skeleton masts fell over. The battleship heeled over, and slowly sank, bow first. 

"Wonderful!" exclaimed Elaine. "That was very realistic. "

We brushed our way out through the thick palms, congratulatingKennedy on the perfect success of his demonstration. 

So astonished were we that we did not hear the doorbell ring. Jennings answered it and admitted two men. 

"Is Professor Kennedy here?" asked one. "We have been to hisapartment and to the laboratory. "

"I'll see, " said Jennings discretely, taking the card of one ofthem and leaving them in the drawing-room. 

"Two gentlemen to see you, Mr. Kennedy, " Jennings interrupted ourcongratulations, handing Craig a card. "Shall I tell them you arehere, sir?"

Craig glanced at the card. "I wonder what that can be?" he said, turning the card toward us. 

It was engraved:

W. R. Barnes U. S. Secret Service. 

"Yes, I'll see them, " he said, then to us, "Please excuse me?"

Elaine, Aunt Josephine and I strolled off in the palms toward theFifth Avenue side, while Jennings went out toward the back of thehouse. 

"Well, gentlemen, " greeted Kennedy as he met the two detectives, "what can I do for you?"

The leader looked about, then leaned over and whispered, "We'vejust had word, Professor, that your model of the torpedo has beenstolen from the Navy Department in Washington. "

"Stolen?" repeated Kennedy, staring aghast. 

"Yes. We fear that an agent of a foreign government has found atraitor in the department. "

Rapidly Kennedy's mind pictured what might be done with the deadlyweapon in the hands of an enemy. 

"And, " added the Secret Service man, "we have reason to believethat this foreign agent is using a Chinaman, Wu Fang. "

"But Wu has been arrested, " replied Craig. "I arrested him myself. The police have him now. "

"Then you don't know of his escape?"

Kennedy could only stare as they told the story. 

Suddenly, down the hall, came cries of, "Help! Help!"

 . . . . . . . 

While Craig was showing us the torpedo, the criminal machinerywhich Wu had set in motion at orders from the foreign agents wasworking rapidly. 

Outside the Dodge house, a man had shadowed us. He waited until wewent in, then slunk in himself by the back way and climbed throughan open window into the cellar. 

Quietly he made his way up through the cellar until finally hereached the library. Listening carefully he could hear us talkingin the conservatory. Stealthily he moved out of the library. 

We had left the conservatory when he entered, peering through thepalms. On he stole till he came to the fountain. He looked about. There, bobbing up and down, was the model of the torpedo for whichhe had dared so much. He picked it up and looked at it, gloating. 

The crook was about to move back toward the library, hugging theprecious model close to himself when he heard Jennings coming. Hestarted back to the conservatory. Jennings entered just in time tocatch a fleeting glimpse of some one. His suspicions were rousedand he followed. 

The crook reached the conservatory and opened a glass windowleading out into the little garden beside the house. He was aboutto step out when the sound of voices in the garden arrested him. Elaine, Aunt Josephine and I had gone out and Elaine was showingme a new rose which had just been sent her. 

The crook fell back and dropped down behind the palms. Jenningslooked about, but saw no one and stood there puzzled. Then thecrook, fearing that he might be captured at any moment, lookedabout to see where he might hide the torpedo. There did not seemto be any place. Quickly he began to dig out the earth in one ofthe palm pots. He dropped the torpedo, wrapped still in thehandkerchief, into the hole and covered it up. 

Jennings was clearly puzzled. He had seen some one rush in, butthe conservatory was apparently empty. He had just turned to goout when he saw a palm move. There was a face! He made a dive forit and in a moment both he and the crook were rolling over andover. 

 . . . . . . . 

Kennedy and the Secret Service men were talking earnestly whenthey heard the cry for help and the scuffle. They rushed out andinto the conservatory in time to see the crook, who had brokenaway, knock out Jennings. He sprang to his feet and darted away. 

Kennedy's mind was working rapidly. Had the man been after theother model? The detectives went after him. But Craig went for thetorpedo. As he looked in the tank, it was gone! He turned andfollowed the crook. 

I was still in the garden with Elaine and Aunt Josephine when Iheard sounds of a struggle and a moment later a man emergedthrough the window of the conservatory followed by two other men. I went for him, but he managed to elude me and dashed for the wallin the back of the garden. The Secret Service men fired at him buthe kept on. A moment later Craig came through the window. 

"Did any of you take the torpedo?" he asked. 

"No, " replied Elaine, "we left it just as you had it. "

Kennedy seemed wild with anxiety. "Then both models have beenstolen!" he cried, dashing after the Secret Service men with meclose behind. 

The crook by this time had reached the top of the wall. Just as hewas about to let himself down safely on the other side, a shotstruck him. He pitched over and we ran forward. 

But he had just enough of a start. In spite of the shock and thewound he managed to pick himself up and with the help of aconfederate hobbled into a waiting car, which sped away just as wecame over the wall. 

We dropped to the ground just as another car approached. Craigcommandeered it from its astonished driver, the Secret Service menand I piled in and we were off in a few seconds in hot pursuit. 

 . . . . . . . 

Down at the terminal where trains came in from Washington, Wu, much better now, was waiting. 

He had pulled a long coat over his Chinese clothes and wore aslouch hat. As he looked at the incoming passengers he spied theman he was waiting for, the young crook who had been waiting inthe shrubbery outside the Navy Building when the torpedo model wasthrown out. 

The man had the model carefully wrapped up, under his arm. As hiseye travelled over the crowd he recognized Wu but did not betrayit. He walked by and, as he passed, hastily handed Wu the packagecontaining the model. Wu slipped it under his coat. Then each wenthis way, in opposite directions. 

 . . . . . . . 

It was a close race between the car bearing the two crooks andthat which Kennedy had impressed into service, but we kept on upthrough the city and out across the country, into Connecticut. 

Time and again they almost got away until it became a question offollowing tire tracks. Once we came to a cross-road and Kennedystopped and leaped out. Deeply planted in the mud, he could seethe tracks of the car ahead leading out by the left road. Closebeside the tire tracks were the footprints of two men going up theright hand road toward the Sound. 

"You follow the car and the driver, " decided Craig, hastilyindicating the road by which it had gone. "I'll follow thefootprints. "

The Secret Service men jumped back into the car and Kennedy and Iwent along the shore road following the two crooks. 

Already the wounded crook, supported by his pal, had made his waydown to the water and had come to a long wharf. There, near theland-end, they had a secret hiding-place into which they went. Theother crook drew forth a smoke signal and began to prepare it. 

Kennedy and I were able, now, to move faster than they. As we camein sight of the wharf, Kennedy paused. 

"There they are, two of them, " he indicated. 

I could just make them out in their hiding-place. The fellow whohad stolen the torpedo was by this time so weak from loss of bloodthat he could hardly hold his head up, while the other hurried tofix-the smoke signal. He happened to glance up, and saw us. 

"Come, Red, brace up, " he muttered. "They're on our trail. "

The wounded man was almost too weak to answer. "I--I can't, " hegasped weakly, "You--go. " Then, with a great effort, rememberingthe mission on which he had been sent, he whispered hoarsely, "Ihid the second torpedo model in the Dodge house in the bottom of--" He tried hard to finish, but he was too weak. He fell back, dead. 

His pal had waited as long as he dared to learn the secret. Hejumped up and ran out just as we burst into the hiding-place. 

Kennedy dropped down by the dead man and searched him, while Idashed after the other fellow. But I was not so well acquaintedwith the lay of the land as he and, before I knew it, he haddarted into another of his numerous hiding-places. I hunted about, but I had lost the track. 

When I returned, I found Kennedy writing a hasty note. 

"I couldn't follow him, Craig, " I confessed. 

"Too bad, " frowned Craig evidently greatly worried by what hadhappened, as he folded the note. "Walter, " he added seriously, "Iwant you to go find the fellow. " He handed me the note. "And ifanything separates us to-day--give this note to Elaine. "

I did not pay much attention to the tone he assumed, but oftenafterward I pondered over it and the serious and troubled look onhis face. I was too chagrined at losing my man to think much of itthen. I took the note and hurried out again after him. 

Meanwhile, as nearly as I can now make out, Kennedy searched thedead man again. There was certainly no clue to his identity onhim, nor had he the torpedo model. Craig looked about. Suddenly, he fell flat on his stomach. 

There was Wu Fang himself, coming to the wharf, carrying the modelof the torpedo which had been stolen in Washington and brought upto him by his emissary. 

Kennedy, crouching down and taking advantage of every object thatsheltered him, crawled cautiously into an angle. Unsuspecting, Wucame to the land-end of the wharf. 

There he saw his lieutenant, dead--and the smoke signal stillbeside him, unlighted. He bent over in amazement and examined theman. 

From his hiding-place Kennedy crept stealthily. He had scarcelygot within reach of Wu when the alert Chinaman seemed to sense hispresence. He rose quickly and swung around. 

The two arch enemies gazed at each other a moment silently. Eachknew it was the final, fatal encounter. 

Slowly Wu drew a long knife and leaped at Kennedy who grappledwith him. They struggled mercilessly. 

In the struggle, Craig managed to tear the torpedo out of Wu'shands, just as they rolled over. It fell on a rock. Instantly anexplosion tore a hole in the sand, scattering the gravel allabout. 

Relentlessly the combat raged. Out on the wharf itself they went, right up to the edge. 

Then both went over into the water, locked in each other's vice-like grip. 

Even in the water, they struggled, frantically. 

 . . . . . . . 

My search for the escaped crook was unsuccessful. 

Somehow, however, it led me across country to a road. As Iapproached, I heard a car and looked up. There were the SecretService men. I called them and stepped out of the bushes. Theystopped and jumped out of the car and I ran to them. 

"Come back with me, " I urged. "We found two of them. One is dead. Craig sent me to trace the other. I've lost the trail. Perhaps youcan find it for me. "

We crashed through the brush quickly. Suddenly I heard somethingthat caused me to start. It sounded like an explosion. 

"There's the place--over there, " I pointed, pausing and indicatingthe direction of the wharf whence had come the explosion. 

What was it? We did not stop a moment, but hurried in thatdirection. 

We reached the shore where we saw marks of the explosion and of afight. Out on the pier I ran breathlessly. I rushed to the veryedge and gazed over, then climbed down the slippery piling andpeered into the black water beneath. 

A few bubbles seemed to ooze up from below. Was that all?

No, as I gazed down I saw that some dark object was there. SlowlyWu Fang's body floated to the surface and lay there, rocked by thewaves. Deep in his breast stuck his own knife with its handle ofthe Sign of the Serpent!

I reached down and seized him, as I peered about for Kennedy. 

There was nothing more there. 

"Craig!" I called desperately, "Craig!"

There was no answer. The silence, the echo of the lapping waterunder the wharf was appalling, mocking. 

I managed to call the Secret Service men and they got Wu Fang'sbody up on the wharf. 

But I could not leave the spot. 

Where was Craig? There was not a sign of him. I could not realizeit, even when the men brought grappling irons and began to searchthe black water. 

It was all a hideous dream. I saw and heard, in a daze. 

 . . . . . . . 

It was not until late that night that I returned to the Dodgehouse. 

I had delayed my return as long as I could, but I knew that I mustsee Elaine some time. 

As I entered even Jennings must have seen that something waswrong. Elaine, who was sitting in the library with Aunt Josephine, rose as she saw me. 

"Did you get them?" she asked eagerly. 

I could not speak. She seemed to read the tragic look on myhaggard face and stopped. 

"Why, " she gasped, clutching at the desk, "what is the matter?"

As gently as I could, I told her of the chase, of leaving Craig, of the explosion, of the marks of the struggle and of the findingof Wu Fang. 

As I finished, I thought she would faint. 

"And you--you went over everything about the wharf?"

"Everything. The men even dragged for the--"

I checked myself over the fateful word. 

Elaine looked at me wildly. I thought that she would lose herreason. She did not cry. The shock was too great for that. 

Suddenly I remembered the note. "Before I left him--the lasttime, " I blurted out, "he wrote a note--to you. "

I pulled the crumpled paper from my pocket and Elaine almost toreit from me--the last word from him--and read:

DEAREST:

I may not return until the case is settled and I have found thestolen torpedo. Matters involving millions of lives and billionsof dollars hang on the plot back of it. No matter what happens, have no fear. Trust me. 

Lovingly, CRAIG. 

She finished reading the note and slowly laid it down. Then shepicked it up and read it again. Slowly she turned to me. 

I think I have never seen so sublime a look of faith on any one'sface before. If I had not seen and heard what I had, it might haveshaken my own convictions. 

"He told me to trust him and to have no fear, " she said simply, gripping herself mentally and physically by main force, then withan air of defiance she looked at me. "I do not believe that he isdead!"

I tried to comfort her. I wanted to do so. But I could do nothingbut shake my head sadly. My own heart was full to overflowing. Anintimacy such as had been ours could not be broken except with ashock that tore my soul. I knew that the poor girl had not seenwhat I had seen. Yet I could not find it in my heart to contradicther. 

She saw my look, read my mind. 

"No, " she cried, still defiant, "no--a thousand times, no! I tellyou--he is not dead!"

CHAPTER VI

THE LOST TORPEDO

From the rocks of a promontory that jutted out not far from thewharf where Wu Fang's body was found and Kennedy had disappeared, opened up a beautiful panorama of a bay on one side and the Soundon the other. 

It was a deserted bit of coast. But any one who had been standingnear the promontory the next day might have seen a thin line as ifthe water, sparkling in the sunlight, had been cut by a hugeknife. Gradually a thin steel rod seemed to rise from the wateritself, still moving ahead, though slowly now as it pushed its wayabove the surface. After it came a round cylinder of steel, studded with bolts. It was the hatch of a submarine and the rodwas the periscope. 

As the submarine lay there at rest, the waves almost breaking overit, the hatch slowly opened and a hand appeared groping for ahold. Then appeared a face with a tangle of curly black hair andkeen forceful eyes. After it the body of a man rose out of thehatch, a tall, slender, striking person. He reached down into thehold of the boat and drew forth a life preserver. 

"All right, " he called down in an accent slightly foreign, as hebuckled on the belt. "I shall communicate with you as soon as Ihave something to report. "

Then he deliberately plunged overboard and struck out for theshore. Hand over hand, he churned his way through the water towardthe beach until at last his feet touched bottom and he waded out, shaking the water from himself like a huge animal. 

The coming of the stranger had not been entirely unheralded. Alongthe shore road by which Kennedy and I had followed the crooks whomwe thought had the torpedo, on that last chase, was waiting now apowerful limousine with its motor purring. A chauffeur was sittingat the wheel and inside, at the door, sat a man peering out alongthe road to the beach. Suddenly the man in the machine signalledto the driver. 

"He comes, " he cried eagerly. "Drive down the road, closer, andmeet him. "

The chauffeur shot his car ahead. As the swimmer strode shiveringup the roadway, the car approached him. The assistant swung openthe door and ran forward with a thick, warm coat and hat. 

Neither the master nor the servant spoke as they met, but the manwrapped the coat about him, hurried into the car, the driverturned and quickly they sped toward the city. 

Secret though the entrance of the stranger had been planned, however, it was not unobserved. 

Along the beach, on a boulder, gazing thoughtfully out to sea andsmoking an old briar pipe sat a bent fisherman clad in an oilskincoat and hat and heavy, ungainly boots. About his neck was a longwoolen muffler which concealed the lower part of his face quite aseffectually as his scraggly, grizzled whiskers. 

Suddenly, he seemed to discover something that interested him, slowly rose, then turned and almost ran up the shore. Quickly hedropped behind a large rock and waited, peering out. 

As the limousine bearing the stranger, on whom the fisherman hadkept his eyes riveted, turned and drove away, the old salt rosefrom behind his rock, gazed after the car as if to fix every lineof it in his memory and then he, too, quickly disappeared up theroad. 

The stranger's car had scarcely disappeared when the fishermanturned from the shore road into a clump of stunted trees and madehis way to a hut. Not far away stood a small, unpretentious closedcar, also with a driver. 

"I shall be ready in a minute, " the fisherman nodded almostrunning into the hut, as the driver moved his car up closer to thedoor. 

The larger motor had disappeared far down the bend of the roadwhen the fisherman reappeared. In an almost incredible time he hadchanged his oilskins and muffler for a dark coat and silk hat. Hewas no longer a fisherman, but a rather fussy-looking oldgentleman, bewhiskered still, with eyes looking out keenly from apair of gold-rimmed glasses. 

"Follow that car--at any cost, " he ordered simply as he lethimself into the little motor, and the driver shot ahead down abit of side road and out into the main shore road again, urgingthe car forward to overtake the one ahead. 

Such was the entrance of the stranger--Marcius Del Mar--intoAmerica. 

 . . . . . . . 

How I managed to pass the time during the first days after thestrange disappearance of Kennedy, I don't know. It was all like adream--the apartment empty, the laboratory empty, my own work onthe Star uninteresting, Elaine broken-hearted, life itself aburden. 

Hoping against hope the next day I decided to drop around at theDodge house. As I entered the library unannounced, I saw thatElaine, with a faith for which I envied her, was sitting at atable, her back toward the door. She was gazing sadly at aphotograph. Though I could not see it, I needed not to be toldwhose it was. 

She did not hear me come in, so engrossed was she in her thoughts. Nor did she notice me at first as I stood just behind her. FinallyI put my hand on her shoulder as if I had been an elder brother. 

She looked up into my face. "Have you heard from him yet?" sheasked anxiously. 

I could only shake my head sadly. She sighed. Involuntarily sherose and together we moved toward the garden, the last place wehad seen him about the house. 

We had been pacing up and down the garden talking earnestly only ashort time when a man made his way in from the Fifth Avenue gate. 

"Is this Miss Dodge?" he asked. 

"Yes, " she replied eagerly. 

Neither Elaine nor I knew him at the time, though I think shethought he might be the bearer of some message from Craig. As amatter of fact he was the emissary to whom the stenographer hadthrown the torpedo model from the Navy Building in Washington. 

His visit was only a part of a deep-laid scheme. Only a fewminutes before, three crooks--among them our visitor--had stoppedjust below the house on a side street. To him the others had givenfinal instructions and a note, and he had gone on, leaving the twostanding there. 

"I have a note for you, " he said, bowing and handing an envelopeto Elaine, which she tore open and read. 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 

MISS ELAINE DODGE, Fifth Avenue, New York. 

MY DEAR MISS DODGE, The bearer, Mr. Bailey, of the Secret Service, would like toquestion you regarding the disappearance of Mr. Kennedy and themodel of his torpedo. 

MORGAN BERTRAND, U. S. Secret Service. 

Even as we were talking the other two crooks had already moved upand had made their way around back of the stone wall that cut offthe Dodge garden back of the house. There they stood, whisperingeagerly and gazing furtively over the wall as their man talked toElaine. 

After a moment I stepped aside, while Elaine read the note, and ashe asked her a few questions, I could not help feeling that theaffair had a very suspicious look. The more I thought of it, theless I liked it. Finally I could stand it no longer. 

"I beg your pardon, " I excused myself to the alleged Mr. Bailey, "but may I speak to Miss Dodge alone just a minute?"

He bowed, rather ungraciously I thought, and Elaine followed measide while I told her my fears. 

"I don't like the looks of it myself, " she agreed. "Yes, I'll bevery careful what I say. "

While we were talking I could see out of the corner of my eye thatthe fellow was looking at us askance and frowning. But if I hadhad an X-ray eye, I might have seen his two companions on theother side of the wall, peering over as they had been before andshowing every evidence of annoyance at my interference. 

The man resumed his questioning of Elaine regarding the torpedoand she replied guardedly, as in fact she could not do otherwise. 

Suddenly we heard shouts on the other side of the wall, as thoughsome one were attacking some one else. 

There seemed to be several of them, for a man quickly flunghimself over the wall and ran to us. 

"They're after us, " he shouted to Bailey. 

Instantly our visitor drew a gun and followed the newcomer as heran to get out of the garden in the opposite direction. 

Just then a tall, well-dressed, striking man came over the wall, accompanied by another dressed as a policeman, and rushed towardus. 

 . . . . . . . 

The car bearing the mysterious stranger, Del Mar, kept on until itreached New York, then made its way through the city until it cameto the Hotel La Coste. 

Del Mar jumped out of the car, his wet clothes covered completelyby the long coat. He registered and rode up in the elevator torooms which had already been engaged for him. In his suite a valetwas already unpacking some trunks and laying out clothes when DelMar and his assistant entered. 

With an exclamation of satisfaction at his unostentatious entryinto the city, Del Mar threw off his heavy coat. The valethastened to assist him in removing the clothes still wet andwrinkled from his plunge into the sea. 

Scarcely had Del Mar changed his clothes than he received twovisitors. Strangely enough they were men dressed in the uniform ofpolicemen. 

"First of all we must convince them of our honesty, " he saidlooking fixedly at the two men. "Orders have been given to the menemployed by Wu Fang to be about in half an hour. We must pretendto arrest them on sight. You understand?"

"Yes, sir, " they nodded. 

"Very well, come on, " Del Mar ordered taking up his hat andpreceding them from the room. 

Outside the La Coste, Del Mar and his two policemen entered thecar which had driven Del Mar from the sea coast and were quicklywhisked away, up-town, until they came near the Dodge house. 

Del Mar leaped from the car followed by his two policemen. "Therethey are, already, " he whispered, pointing up the avenue. 

All three hastened up the avenue now where, beside a wall, theycould see two men looking through intently as though very angry atsomething going on inside. 

"Arrest them!" shouted Del Mar as his own men ran forward. 

The fight was short and sharp, with every evidence of beinggenuine. One of the men managed to break away and jump the gardenwall, with Del Mar and one of the policemen after him, while theother only reached the wall to be dragged down by the otherpoliceman. 

Elaine and I had been, as I have said, talking with the man namedBailey who posed as a Secret Service man, when the rumpus began. As the man came over the fence, warning Bailey, it was evidentthat neither of them had time to escape. With his club thepoliceman struck the newcomer of the two flat while the tall, athletic gentleman leaped upon Bailey and before we knew it hadhim disarmed. In a most clean-cut and professional way he snappedthe bracelets on the man. 

Elaine was astounded at the kaleidoscopic turn of affairs, tooastounded even to make an outcry. As for me, it was all so suddenthat I had no chance to take part in it. Besides I should not haveknown quite on which side to fight. So I did nothing. 

But as it was over so quickly, I took a step forward to our latestarrival. 

"Beg pardon, old man, " I began, "but don't you think this is justa little raw? What's it all about?"

The newest comer eyed me for a moment, then with quiet dignitydrew from his pocket and handed me his card which read simply:

M. Del Mar, Private Investigator. 

As I looked up, I saw Del Mar's other policeman bringing inanother manacled man. 

"These are crooks--foreign agents, " replied Del Mar pointing tothe prisoners. "The government has employed me to run them down. "

"What of this?" asked Elaine holding up the note from Bertrand. 

"A fake, a forgery, " reiterated Del Mar, looking at it a momentcritically. Then to the men uniformed as police he ordered, "Youcan take them to jail. They're the fellows, all right. "

As the prisoners were led off, Del Mar turned to Elaine. "Wouldyou mind answering a few questions about these men?"

"Why--no, " she hesitated. "But I think we'd better go into thehouse, after such a thing as this. It makes me feel nervous. "

With Del Mar I followed Elaine in through the conservatory. 

 . . . . . . . 

Del Mar had scarcely registered at the La Coste when the smallercar which had been waiting at the fisherman's hut drew up beforethe hotel entrance. From it alighted the fussy old gentleman whobore such a remarkable resemblance to the fisherman, hastily paidhis driver and entered the hotel. 

He went directly to the desk and with well-manicured finger, scarcely reminiscent of a fisherman, began tracing the names downthe list until he stopped before one which read:

Marcius Del Mar and valet. Washington, D. C. Room 520. 

With a quick glance about, he made a note of it, and turned away, leaving the La Coste to take up quarters of his own in the PrinceHenry down the street. 

Not until Del Mar had left with his two policemen did the fussyold gentleman reappear in the La Coste. Then he rode up to DelMar's room and rapped at the door. 

"Is Mr. Del Mar in?" he inquired of the valet. 

"No, sir, " replied that functionary. 

The little old man appeared to consider, standing a momentdandling his silk hat. Absent-mindedly he dropped it. As the valetstooped to pick it up, the old gentleman exhibited an agility andstrength scarcely to be expected of his years. He seized thevalet, while with one foot he kicked the door shut. 

Before the surprised servant knew what was going on, his assailanthad whipped from his pocket a handkerchief in which was concealeda thin tube of anesthetic. Then leaving the valet prone in acorner with the handkerchief over his face, he proceeded to make asystematic search of the rooms, opening all drawers, trunks andbags. 

He turned pretty nearly everything upside down, then started onthe desk. Suddenly he paused. There was a paper. He read it, thenwith an air of extreme elation shoved it into his pocket. 

As he was going out he stopped beside the valet, removed thehandkerchief from his face and bound him with a cord from theportieres. Then, still immaculate in spite of his encounter, hedescended in the elevator, reentered a waiting car and drove off. 

Quite evidently, however, he wanted to cover his tracks for he hadnot gone a half dozen blocks before he stopped, paid and tippedthe driver generously, and disappeared into the theatre crowd. 

Back again in the Prince Henry, whither the fussy little old manmade his way as quickly as he could through a side street, he wentquietly up to his room. 

His door was now locked. He did not have to deny himself tovisitors, for he had none. Still, his room was cluttered by a vastamount of paraphernalia and he was seated before a table deep inwork. 

First of all he tied a handkerchief over his nose and mouth. Thenhe took up a cartridge from the table and carefully extracted thebullet. Into the space occupied by the bullet he poured a whitepowder and added a wad of paper, like a blank cartridge, placingthe cartridge in the chamber of a revolver and repeating theoperation until he had it fully loaded. It was his own inventionof an asphyxiating bullet. 

Perhaps half an hour later, the old gentleman, his room cleaned upand his immaculate appearance restored, sauntered forth from thehotel down the street like a veritable Turveydrop, to showhimself. 

 . . . . . . . 

Elaine seemed quite impressed with our new friend, Del Mar, as wemade our way to the library, though I am not sure but that it wasa pose on her part. At any rate he seemed quite eager to help us. 

"What do you suppose has become of Mr. Kennedy?" asked Elaine. 

Del Mar looked at her earnestly. "I should be glad to search forhim, " he returned quickly. "He was the greatest man in ourprofession. But first I must execute the commission of the SecretService. We must find his torpedo model before it falls intoforeign hands. "

We talked for a few moments, then Del Mar with a glance at hiswatch excused himself. We accompanied him to the door, for he wasindeed a charming man. I felt that, if in fact he were assigned tothe case, I ought to know him better. 

"If you're going down-town, " I ventured, "I might accompany youpart of the way. "

"Delighted, " agreed Del Mar. 

Elaine gave him her hand and he took it in such a deferential waythat one could not help liking him. Elaine was much impressed. 

As Del Mar and I walked down the avenue, he kept up a running fireof conversation until at last we came near the La Coste. 

"Charmed to have met you, Mr. Jameson, " he said, pausing. "Weshall see a great deal of each other I hope. "

I had not yet had time to say good-bye myself when a slightexclamation at my side startled me. Turning suddenly, I saw a verybrisk, fussy old gentleman who had evidently been hurrying throughthe crowd. He had slipped on something on the sidewalk and losthis balance, falling near us. 

We bent over and assisted him to his feet. As I took hold of hishand, I felt a peculiar pressure from him. He had placed somethingin my hand. My mind worked quickly. I checked my first impulse tospeak and, more from curiosity than anything else, kept the thinghe had passed to me surreptitiously. 

"Thank you, gentlemen, " he puffed, straightening himself out. "Oneof the infirmities of age. Thank you, thank you. "

In a moment he had bustled off quite comically. 

Again Del Mar said good-bye and I did not urge him to stay. He hadscarcely gone when I looked at the thing the old man had placed inmy hand. It was a little folded piece of paper. I opened itslowly. Inside was printed in pencil, disguised:

"BE CAREFUL. WATCH HIM. "

I read it in amazement. What did it mean?

 . . . . . . . 

At the La Coste, Del Mar was met by two of his men in the lobbyand they rode up to his room. 

Imagine their surprise when they opened the door and found thevalet lying bound on the floor. 

"Who the deuce did this?" demanded Del Mar as they loosened him. 

The valet rose weakly to his feet. "A little old man with graywhiskers, " he managed to gasp. 

Del Mar looked at him in surprise. Instantly his active mindrecalled the little old man who had fallen before us on thestreet. 

Who--what was he?

"Come, " he said quickly, beckoning his two companions who had comein with him. 

Some time later, Del Mar's car stopped just below the Dodge house. 

"You men go around back of the house and watch, " ordered Del Mar. 

As they disappeared he turned and went up the Dodge steps. 

 . . . . . . . 

I walked back after my strange experience with the fussy littleold gentleman, feeling more than ever, now that Craig was gone, that both Elaine and Aunt Josephine needed me. 

As we sat talking in the library, Rusty, released from the chainon which Jennings kept him, bounded with a rush into the library. 

"Good old fellow, " encouraged Elaine, patting him. 

Just then Jennings entered and a moment later was followed by DelMar, who bowed as we welcomed him. 

"Do you know, " he began, "I believe that the lost torpedo model issomewhere in this house and I have reason to anticipate anotherattempt of foreign agents to find it. If you'll pardon me, I'vetaken the liberty of surrounding the place with some men we cantrust. "

While Del Mar was speaking, Elaine picked up a ribbon from thetable and started to tie it about Rusty's neck. As Del Marproceeded she paused, still holding the ribbon. Rusty, who hatedribbons, saw his chance and quietly sidled out, seeking refuge inthe conservatory. 

Alone in the conservatory, Rusty quickly forgot about the ribbonand began nosing about the palms. At last he came to the pot inwhich the torpedo model had been buried in the soft earth by thethief the night it had been stolen from the fountain. 

Quickly Elaine recalled herself and, seeing the ribbon in her handand Rusty gone, called him. There was no answer, and she excusedherself, for it was against the rules for Rusty to wander about. 

In his haste the thief had left just a corner of the handkerchiefsticking out of the dirt. What none of us had noticed, Rusty'skeen eyes and nose discovered and his instinct told him to dig forit. In a moment he uncovered the torpedo and handkerchief andsniffed. 

Just then he heard his mistress calling him. Rusty had beenwhipped for digging in the conservatory and now, with his tailbetween his legs, he seized the torpedo in his mouth and boltedfor the door of the drawing-room, for he had heard voices in thelibrary. As he did so he dropped the handkerchief and the littlepropeller, loosened by his teeth, fell off. 

Elaine entered the conservatory, still calling. Rusty was notthere. He had reached the stairs, scurrying up to the attic, stillholding the torpedo model in his mouth. He pushed open the atticdoor and ran in. Rusty's last refuge in time of trouble was backof a number of trunks, among which were two of almost the samesize and appearance. Behind one of them, he had hidden amiscellaneous collection of bones, pieces of biscuit and thingsdear to his heart. He dropped the torpedo among these treasures. 

Del Mar, meanwhile, had followed Elaine through the hall and intothe conservatory. As he entered he could see her stooping down tolook through the palms for Rusty. She straightened up and went onout. 

Del Mar followed. Beside the palm pot where Rusty had found thetorpedo, he happened to see the old handkerchief soiled with dirt. Near-by lay the little propeller. He picked them up. 

"She has found it!" he exclaimed in wonder, following Elaine. 

By this time Rusty had responded to Elaine's calls and cametearing down-stairs again. 

"Naughty Rusty, " chided Elaine, tying the ribbon on him. 

"So--you have found him at last?" remarked Del Mar looking quicklyat Elaine to see if she would get a double meaning. 

"Yes. He's had a fine time running away, " she replied. 

Del Mar was scarcely able to conceal his suspicion of her. Was shea clever actress, hiding her discovery, he wondered?

 . . . . . . . 

Outside, on the lawn, Del Mar's men had been looking about, buthad discovered nothing. They paused a moment to speak. 

"Look out!" whispered one of them. "There's some one coming. "

They dropped down in the shadow. There in the light of the streetlamps was the fussy old gentleman coming across the lawn. He stoleup to the door of the conservatory and looked through. Del Mar'smen crawled a few feet closer. The little old man entered theconservatory and looked about again stealthily. The two menfollowed him in noiselessly and watched as he bent over the palmpot from which the dog had dug up the torpedo. He looked at thehole curiously. Just then he heard sounds behind him and sprang tohis feet. 

"Hands up!" ordered one of the men covering him with a gun. 

The little old man threw up his hands, raising his cane still inhis right hand. The man with the gun took a step closer. As he didso, the little old man brought down his cane with a quick blow andknocked the gun out of his hand. The second man seized the cane. The old man jerked the cane back and was standing there with athin tough steel rapier. It was a sword-cane. Del Mar's man heldthe sheath. 

As the man attacked with the sheath, the little old man parried, sent it flying from his grasp, and wounded him. The wounded mansank down, while the little old man ran off through the palms, followed by the other of Del Mar's men. 

Around the hall, he ran, and back into the conservatory where hepicked up a heavy chair and threw it through the glass, droppinghimself behind a convenient hiding-place near-by. Del Mar's man, close after him, mistaking the crash of glass for the escape ofthe man he was pursuing, went on through the broken exit. Then thelittle old man doubled on his tracks and made for the front of thehouse. 

 . . . . . . . 

With Aunt Josephine I had remained in the library. 

"What's that?" I exclaimed at the first sounds. "A fight?"

Together we rushed for the conservatory. 

The fight followed so quickly by the crash of glass also alarmedElaine and Del Mar in the hallway and they hurried toward thelibrary, which we had just left, by another door. 

As they entered, they saw a little old gentleman rushing in fromthe conservatory and locking the door behind him. He whirledabout, and he and Del Mar recognized each other at once. They drewguns together, but the little old man fired first. 

His bullet struck the wall back of Del Mar and a cloud of vaporwas instantly formed, enveloping Del Mar and even Elaine. Del Marfell, overcome, while Elaine sank more slowly. The little old manran forward. 

In the conservatory, Aunt Josephine and I heard the shooting, justas one of Del Mar's men ran in again. With him we ran back towardthe library. 

By this time the whole house was aroused. Jennings and Marie werehurrying down-stairs, crying for help and making their way to thelibrary also. 

In the library, the little old man bent over Del Mar and Elaine. But it was only a moment later that he heard the whole housearoused. Quickly he shut and locked the folding-doors to thedrawing-room, as, with Del Mar's man, I was beating at the rearlibrary door. 

"I'll go around, " I suggested, hurrying off, while Del Mar's mantried to beat in the door. 

Inside the little old man who had been listening saw that therewas no means of escape. He pulled off his coat and vest and turnedthem inside out. On the inside he had prepared an exact copy ofJennings' livery. 

It was only a matter of seconds before he had completed hischange. For a moment he paused and looked at the two prostratefigures before him. Then he took a rose from a vase on the tableand placed it in Elaine's hand. 

Finally, with his whiskers and wig off he moved to the rear doorwhere Del Mar's man was beating and opened it. 

"Look, " he cried pointing in an agitated way at Del Mar andElaine. "What shall we do?"

Del Mar's man, who had never seen Jennings, ran to his master andthe little old man, in his new disguise, slipped quietly into thehall and out the front door, where he had a taxicab waiting forhim, down the street. 

A moment later I burst open the other library door and AuntJosephine followed me in, just as Jennings himself and Marieentered from the drawing-room. 

It was only a moment before we had Del Mar, who was most in needof care, on the sofa and Elaine, already regaining consciousness, lay back in a deep easy chair. 

As Del Mar moved, I turned again to Elaine who was now nearlyrecovered. 

"How do you feel?" I asked anxiously. 

Her throat was parched by the asphyxiating fumes, but she smiledbrightly, though weakly. 

"Wh-where did I get that?" she managed to gasp finally, catchingsight of the rose in her hand. "Did you put it there?"

I shook my head and she gazed at the rose, wondering. 

Whoever the little man was, he was gone. 

I longed for Craig. 

CHAPTER VII

THE GRAY FRIAR

So confident was Elaine that Kennedy was still alive that shewould not admit to herself what to the rest of us seemed obvious. 

She even refused to accept Aunt Josephine's hints and decided togive a masquerade ball which she had planned as the last event ofthe season before she closed the Dodge town house and opened hercountry house on the shore of Connecticut. 

It was shortly after the strange appearance of the fussy oldgentleman that I dropped in one afternoon to find Elaineaddressing invitations, while Aunt Josephine helped her. As wechatted, I picked up one from the pile and mechanicallycontemplated the address:

"M. Del Mar, Hotel La Coste, New York City. "

"I don't like that fellow, " I remarked, shaking my head dubiously. 

"Oh, you're--jealous, Walter, " laughed Elaine, taking the envelopeaway from me and piling it again with the others. 

Thus it was that in the morning's mail, Del Mar, along with therest of us, received a neatly engraved little invitation:

Miss Elaine Dodge requests the pleasure of your presence at themasquerade ball to be given at her residence on Friday eveningJune 1st. 

"Good!" he exclaimed, reaching for the telephone, "I'll go. "

In a restaurant in the white light district two of those who hadbeen engaged in the preliminary plot to steal Kennedy's wirelesstorpedo model, the young woman stenographer who had betrayed hertrust and the man to whom she had passed the model out of thewindow in Washington, were seated at a table. 

So secret had been the relations of all those in the plot that onegroup did not know the other and the strangest methods ofcommunication had been adopted. 

The man removed a cover from a dish. Underneath, perhaps withouteven the waiter's knowledge, was a note. 

"Here are the orders at last, " he whispered to the girl, unfoldingand reading the note. "Look. The model of the torpedo is somewherein her house. Go to-night to the ball as a masquerader and searchfor it. "

"Oh, splendid!" exclaimed the girl. "I'm crazy for a littlesociety after this grind. Pay the check and let's get out andchoose our costumes. "

The man paid the check and they left hurriedly. Half an hour laterthey were at a costumer's shop choosing their disguises, bothcareful to get the fullest masks that would not excite suspicion. 

It was the night of the masquerade. 

During the afternoon Elaine had been thinking more than ever ofKennedy. It all seemed unreal to her. More than once she stoppedto look at his photograph. Several times she checked herself onthe point of tears. 

"No, " she said to herself with a sort of grim determination. "No--he IS alive. He will come back to me--he WILL. "

And yet she had a feeling of terrific loneliness which even hermost powerful efforts could not throw off. She was determined togo through with the ball, now that she had started it, but she wasreally glad when it came time to dress, for even that took hermind from her brooding. 

As Marie finished helping her put on a very effective andconspicuous costume, Aunt Josephine entered her dressing-room. 

"Are you ready, my dear?" she asked, adjusting the mask which shecarried so that no one would recognize her as Martha Washington. 

"In just a minute, Auntie, " answered Elaine, trying hard to putout of her mind how Craig would have liked her dress. 

Somewhat earlier, in my own apartment, I had been arraying myselfas Boum-Boum and modestly admiring the imitation I made of acircus clown as I did a couple of comedy steps before the mirror. 

But I was not really so light-hearted. I could not help thinkingof what this night might have been if Kennedy had been alive. Indeed, I was glad to take up my white mask, throw a long coatover my outlandish costume and hurry off in my waiting car inorder to forget everything that reminded me of him in theapartment. 

Already a continuous stream of guests was trickling in through thecanopy from the curb to the Dodge door, carriages and automobilesarriving and leaving amid great gaping from the crowd on thesidewalk. 

As I entered the ballroom it was really a brilliant andpicturesque assemblage. Of course I recognized Elaine in spite ofher mask, almost immediately. 

Characteristically, she was talking to the one most strikingfigure on the floor, a tall man in red--a veritableMephistopheles. As the music started, Elaine and his SatanicMajesty laughingly fox-trotted off but were not lost to me in thethrong. 

I soon found myself talking to a young lady in a spotted domino. She seemed to have a peculiar fascination for me, yet she did notmonopolize all my attention. As we trotted past the door, I couldsee down the hall. Jennings was still admitting late arrivals, andI caught a glimpse of one costumed as a gray friar, his cowl overhis head and his eyes masked. 

Chatting, we had circled about to the conservatory. A number ofcouples were there and, through the palms, I saw Elaine andMephisto laughingly make their way. 

As my spotted domino partner and I swung around again, I happenedto catch another glimpse of the gray friar. He was not dancing, but walking, or rather stalking, about the edge of the room, gazing about as if searching for some one. 

In the conservatory, Elaine and Mephisto had seated themselves inthe breeze of an open window, somewhat in the shadow. 

"You are Miss Dodge, " he said earnestly. 

"You knew me?" she laughed. "And you?"

He raised his mask, disclosing the handsome face and fascinatingeyes of Del Mar. 

"I hope you don't think I'm here in character, " he laughed easily, as she started a bit. 

"I--I--well, I didn't think it was you, " she blurted out. 

"Ah--then there is some one else you care more to dance with?"

"No--no one--no. "

"I may hope, then?"

He had moved closer and almost touched her hand. The pointed hoodof the gray friar in the palms showed that at last he saw what hesought. 

"No--no. Please--excuse me, " she murmured rising and hurrying backto the ballroom. 

A subtle smile spread over the gray friar's masked face. 

Of course I had known Elaine. Whether she knew me at once I don'tknow or whether it was an accident, but she approached me as Ipaused in the dance a moment with my domino girl. 

"From the--sublime--to the ridiculous, " she cried excitedly. 

My partner gave her a sharp glance. "You will excuse me?" shesaid, and, as I bowed, almost ran off to the conservatory, leavingElaine to dance off with me. 

 . . . . . . . 

Del Mar, quite surprised at the sudden flight of Elaine from hisside, followed more slowly through the palms. 

As he did so he passed a Mexican attired in brilliant nativecostume. At a sign from Del Mar he paused and received a smallpackage which Del Mar slipped to him, then passed on as thoughnothing had happened. The keen eyes of the gray friar, however, had caught the little action and he quietly slipped out after theMexican bolero. 

Just then the domino girl hurried into the conservatory. "What'sdoing?" she asked eagerly. 

"Keep close to me, " whispered Del Mar, as she nodded and they leftthe conservatory, not apparently together. 

Up-stairs, away from the gayety of the ballroom, the bolero madehis way until he came to Elaine's room, dimly lighted. With aquick glance about, he entered cautiously, closed the door, andapproached a closet which he opened. There was a safe built intothe wall. 

As he stooped over, the man unwrapped the package Del Mar hadhanded him and took out a curious little instrument. Inside was adry battery and a most peculiar instrument, something like alittle flat telephone transmitter, yet attached by wires to ear-pieces that fitted over the head after the manner of those of awireless detector. 

He adjusted the head-piece and held the flat instrument againstthe safe, close to the combination which he began to turn slowly. It was a burglar's microphone, used for picking combination locks. As the combination turned, a slight sound was made when the propernumber came opposite the working point. Imperceptible ordinarilyto even the most sensitive ear, to an ear trained it wascomparatively easy to recognize the fall of the tumblers over thismicrophone. 

As he worked, the door behind him opened softly and the gray friarentered, closing it and moving noiselessly over back of theshelter of a big mahogany high-boy, around which he could watch. 

At last the safe was opened. Rapidly the man went through itscontents. "Confound it!" he muttered. "She didn't put it here--anyhow. "

The bolero started to close the safe when he heard a noise in theroom and looked cautiously back of him. Del Mar himself, followedby the domino girl, entered. 

"I've opened it, " whispered the emissary stepping out of thecloset and meeting them, "but I can't find the--"

"Hands up--all of you!"

They turned in time to see the gray friar's gun yawning at them. Most politely he lined them up. Still holding his gun ready, helifted up the mask of the domino girl. 

"So--it's you, " he grunted. 

He was about to lift the mask of the Mexican, when the boleroleaped at him. Del Mar piled in. But sounds down-stairs alarmedthem and the emissary, released, fled quickly with the girl. Thegray friar, however, kept his hold on Mephistopheles, as if he hadbeen wrestling with a veritable devil. 

 . . . . . . . 

Down in the hall, I had again met my domino girl, a few minutesafter I had resigned Elaine to another of her numerous admirers. 

"I thought you deserted me, " I said, somewhat piqued. 

"You deserted me, " she parried, nervously. "However, I'll forgiveyou if you'll get me an ice. "

I hastened to do so. But no sooner had I gone than Del Mar stalkedthrough the hall and went up-stairs. My domino girl was watchingfor him, and followed. 

When I returned with the ice, I looked about, but she was gone. Itwas scarcely a moment later, however, that I saw her hurry down-stairs, accompanied by the Mexican bolero. I stepped forward tospeak to her, but she almost ran past me without a word. 

"A nut, " I remarked under my breath, pushing back my mask. 

I started to eat the ice myself, when, a moment later, Elainepassed through the hall with a Spanish cavalier. 

"Oh, Walter, here you are, " she laughed. "I've been looking allover for you. Thank you very much, sire, " she bowed with mockcivility to the cavalier. "It was only one dance, you know. Pleaselet me talk to Boum-Boum. "

The cavalier bowed reluctantly and left us. 

"What are you doing here alone?" she asked, taking off her ownmask. "How warm it is. "

Before I could reply, I heard some one coming down-stairs back ofme, but not in time to turn

"Elaine's dressing-table, " a voice whispered in my ear. 

I turned suddenly. It was the gray friar. Before I could evenreach out to grasp his robe, he was gone. 

"Another nut!" I exclaimed involuntarily. 

"Why, what did he say?" asked Elaine. 

"Something about your dressing-table. "

"My dressing-table?" she repeated. 

We ran quickly up the steps. Elaine's room showed every evidenceof having been the scene of a struggle, as she went over to thetable. There she picked up a rose and under it a piece of paper onwhich were some words printed with pencil roughly. 

"Look, " she cried, as I read with her:

 Do honest assistants search safes? Let no one see this but Jameson. 

"What does it mean?" I asked. 

"My safe!" she cried moving to a closet. As she opened the door, imagine our surprise at seeing Del Mar lying on the floor, boundand gagged before the open safe. "Get my scissors on the dresser, "cried Elaine. 

I did so, hastily cutting the cords that bound Del Mar. 

"What does it all mean?" asked Elaine as he rose and stretchedhimself. 

Still clutching his throat, as if it hurt, Del Mar choked, "Ifound a man, a foreign agent, searching the safe. But he overcameme and escaped. "

"Oh--then that is what the--"

Elaine checked herself. She had been about to hand the note to DelMar when an idea seemed to come to her. Instead, she crumpled itup and thrust it into her bosom. 

On the street the bolero and the domino girl were hurrying away asfast as they could. 

Meanwhile, the gray friar had overcome Del Mar, had bound andgagged him, and trust him into the closet. Then he wrote the noteand laid it, with a rose from a vase, on Elaine's dressing-tablebefore he, too, followed. 

More than ever I was at a loss to make it out. 

 . . . . . . . 

It was the day after the masquerade ball that a taxicab drove upto the Dodge house and a very trim but not over-dressed young ladywas announced as "Miss Bertholdi. "

"Miss Dodge?" she inquired as Jennings held open the portieres andshe entered the library where Elaine and Aunt Josephine were. 

If Elaine had only known, it was the domino girl of the nightbefore who handed her a note and sat down, looking about sodemurely, while Elaine read:

MY DEAR MISS DODGE, The bearer, Miss Bertholdi, is an operative of mine. I wouldappreciate it if you would employ her in some capacity in yourhouse, as I have reason to believe that certain foreign agentswill soon make another attempt to find Kennedy's lost torpedomodel. 

Sincerely, M. DEL MAR. 

Elaine looked up from reading the note. Miss Bertholdi was good tolook at, and Elaine liked pretty girls about her. 

"Jennings, " she ordered, "call Marie. "

To the butler and her maid, Elaine gave the most carefulinstructions regarding Miss Bertholdi. "She can help you finishthe packing, first, " she concluded. 

The girl thanked her and went out with Jennings and Marie, askingJennings to pay her taxicab driver with money she gave him, whichhe did, bringing her grip into the house. 

Later in the day, Elaine had both Marie and Bertholdi carryingarmsful of her dresses from the closets in her room up to theattic where the last of her trunks were being packed. On one ofthe many trips, Bertholdi came alone into the attic, her arms fullas usual. Before her were two trunks, very much alike, open andnearly packed. She laid her armful of clothes on a chair near-byand pulled one of the trunks forward. On the floor lay the traysof both trunks already packed. Bertholdi began packing her burdenin one trunk which was marked in big white letters, "E. Dodge. "

Down in Elaine's room at the time Jennings entered. "Theexpressman for the trunks is here, Miss Elaine, " he announced. 

"Is he? I wonder whether they are all ready, " Elaine repliedhurrying out of the room. "Tell him to wait. "

In the attic, Bertholdi was still at work, keeping her eyes opento execute the mission on which Del Mar had sent her. 

Rusty, forgotten in the excitement by Jennings, had roamed at willthrough the house and seemed quite interested. For this was thetrunk behind which he had his cache of treasures. 

As Bertholdi started to move behind the trunk, Rusty could standit no longer. He darted ahead of her into his hiding-place. Amongthe dog biscuit and bones was the torpedo model which he had dugup from the palm pot in the conservatory. He seized it in hismouth and turned to carry it off. 

There, in his path, was his enemy, the new girl. Quick as a flash, she saw what it was Rusty had, and grabbed at it. 

"Get out!" she ordered, looking at her prize in triumph andturning it over and over in her hands. 

At that moment she heard Elaine on the stairs. What should she do?She must hide it. She looked about. There was the tray, packed andlying on the floor near the trunk marked, "E. Dodge. " She thrustit hastily into the tray pulling a garment over it. 

"Nearly through?" panted Elaine. 

"Yes, Miss Dodge. "

"Then please tell the expressman to come up. "

Bertholdi hesitated, chagrined. Yet there was nothing to do butobey. She looked at the trunk by the tray to fix it in her mind, then went down-stairs. 

As she left the room, Elaine lifted the tray into the trunk andtried to close the lid. But the tray was too high. She lookedpuzzled. On the floor was another tray almost identical. 

"The wrong trunk, " she smiled to herself, lifting the tray out andputting the other one in, while she placed the first tray with thetorpedo concealed in the other, unmarked, trunk where it belonged. Then she closed the first trunk. 

A moment later the expressman entered, with Bertholdi. 

"You may take that one, " indicated Elaine. 

"Miss Dodge, here's something else to go in, " said Bertholdi indesperation, picking up a dress. 

"Never mind. Put it in the other trunk. "

Bertholdi was baffled, but she managed to control herself. Shemust get word to Del Mar about that trunk marked "E. Dodge. "

 . . . . . . . 

Late that afternoon, before a cheap restaurant might have beenseen our old friend who had posed as Bailey and as the Mexican. Heentered the restaurant and made his way to the first of a row ofbooths on one side. 

"Hello, " he nodded to a girl in the booth. 

Bertholdi nodded back and he took his seat. She had begged an houror two off on some pretext

Outside the restaurant, a heavily-bearded man had been standinglooking intently at nothing in particular when Bertholdi entered. As Bailey came along, he followed and took the next booth, his hatpulled over his eyes. In a moment he was listening, his ear closeup to the partition. 

"Well, what luck?" asked Bailey. "Did you get a clue?"

"I had the torpedo model in my hands, " she replied, excitedlytelling the story. "It is in a trunk marked 'E. Dodge. '"

All this and more the bearded stranger drank in eagerly. 

A moment later Bailey and Bertholdi left the booth and went out ofthe restaurant followed cautiously by the stranger. On the streetthe two emissaries of Del Mar stopped a moment to talk. 

"All right, I'll telephone him, " she said as they parted inopposite directions. 

The stranger took an instant to make up his mind, then followedthe girl. She continued down the street until she came to a storewith telephone booths. The bearded stranger followed still, intothe next booth but did not call a number. He had his ear to thewall. 

He could hear her call Del Mar, and although he could not hear DelMar's answers, she repeated enough for him to catch the drift. Finally, she came out, and the stranger, instead of following herfurther, took the other direction hurriedly. 

 . . . . . . . 

Del Mar himself received the news with keen excitement. Quickly hegave instructions and prepared to leave his rooms. 

A short time later his car pulled up before the La Coste and, in along duster and cap, Del Mar jumped in, and was off. 

Scarcely had his car swung up the avenue when, from an alleywaydown the street from the hotel, the chug-chug of a motor-cyclesounded. A bearded man, his face further hidden by a pair ofgoggles, ran out with his machine, climbed on and followed. 

On out into the country Del Mar's car sped. At every turn themotor-cycle dropped back a bit, observed the turn, then crept upand took it, too. So they went for some time. 

 . . . . . . . 

On the level of the Grand Central where the trains left for theConnecticut shore where Elaine's summer home was located, Baileywas now edging his way through the late crowd down the platform. He paused before the baggage-car just as one of the baggage motortrucks rolled up loaded high with trunks and bags. He stepped backas the men loaded the luggage on the car, watching carefully. 

As they tossed on one trunk marked "E. Dodge, " he turned with asubtle look and walked away. Finally he squirmed around to theother platform. No one was looking and he mounted the rear of thebaggage-car and opened the door. There was the baggageman sittingby the side door, his back to Bailey. Bailey closed the doorsoftly and squeezed behind a pile of trunks and bags. 

 . . . . . . . 

Finally Del Mar reached a spot on the railroad where there wereboth a curve and a grade ahead. He stopped his car and got out. 

Down the road the bearded and goggled motorcyclist stopped just intime to avoid observation. To make sure, he drew a pocket field-glass and leveled it ahead. 

"Wait here, " ordered Del Mar. "I'll call when I want you. "

Back on the road the bearded cyclist could see Del Mar move downthe track though he could not hear the directions. It was notnecessary, however. He dragged his machine into the bushes, hidit, and hurried down the road on foot. 

Del Mar's chauffeur was waiting idly at the wheel when suddenlythe cold nose of a revolver was stuck under his chin. 

"Not a word--and hands up--or I'll let the moonlight through you, "growled out a harsh voice. 

Nevertheless, the chauffeur managed to lurch out of the car andthe bearded stranger, whose revolver it was, found that he wouldhave to shoot. Del Mar was not far enough away to risk it. 

The chauffeur flung himself on him and they struggled fiercely, rolling over and over in the dust of the road. 

But the bearded stranger had a grip of steel and managed to gethis fingers about the chauffeur's throat as an added insuranceagainst a cry for help. 

He choked him literally into insensibility. Then, with a strengththat he did not seem to possess, he picked up the limp, blue-facedbody and carried it off the road and around the car. 

 . . . . . . . 

In the baggage-car, the baggageman was smoking a surreptitiouspipe of powerful tobacco between stations and contemplating thescenery thoughtfully through the open door. 

As the engine slowed up to take a curve and a grade, Bailey whohad now and then taken a peep out of a little grated window abovehim, crept out from his hiding-place. Already he had slipped adark silk mask over his face. 

As he made his way among the trunks and boxes, the train lurchedand the baggageman who had his back to Bailey heard him catchhimself. He turned and leaped to his feet. Bailey closed with himinstantly. 

Over and over they rolled. Bailey had already drawn his revolverbefore he left his hiding-place. A shot, however, would have beenfatal to his part in the plans and was only a last resort for itwould have brought the trainmen. 

Finally Bailey rolled his man over and getting his right arm free, dealt the baggageman a fierce blow with the butt of the gun. 

The train was now pulling slowly up the grade. More time had beenspent in overcoming the baggageman than he expected and Bailey hadto work quickly. He dragged the trunk marked "E. Dodge" from thepile to the door and glanced out. 

 . . . . . . . 

Just around the curve in the railroad, Del Mar was waiting, straining his eyes down the track. 

There was the train, puffing up the grade. As it approached herose and waved his arms. It was the signal and he waitedanxiously. Had his plans been carried out?

The train passed. From the baggage-car came a trunk catapulted outby a strong arm. It hurtled through the air and landed with itsown and the train's momentum. 

Over it rolled in the bushes, then stopped--unbroken, for Elainehad had it designed to resist even the most violent baggage-smasher. 

Del Mar ran to it. As the tail light of the train disappeared heturned around in the direction from which he had come, placed histwo hands to his mouth and shouted. 

 . . . . . . . 

From the side of the road by Del Mar's car the bearded motor-cyclist had just emerged, buttoning the chauffeur's clothes andadjusting his goggles to his own face. 

As he approached the car, he heard a shout. Quickly he tore offthe black beard which had been his disguise and tossed it into thegrass. Then he drew the coat high up about his neck. 

"All right!" he shouted back, starting along the road. 

Together he and Del Mar managed to scramble up the embankment tothe road and, one at each handle of the trunk, they carried itback to the car, piling it in the back. 

The improvised chauffeur started to take his place at the wheeland Del Mar had his foot on the running-board to get beside him, when the now unbearded stranger suddenly swung about and struckDel Mar full in the face. It sent him reeling back into the dust. 

The engine of the car had been running and before Del Mar couldrecover consciousness, the stranger had shot the car ahead, leaving Del Mar prone in the roadway. 

 . . . . . . . 

The train, with Bailey on it, had not gained much speed, yet itwas a perilous undertaking to leap. Still, it was more so now toremain. The baggageman stirred. It was now a case of murder or agetaway. 

Bailey jumped. 

Scratched and bruised and shaken, he scrambled to his feet in thebriars along the track. He staggered up to the road, pulledhimself together, then hurried back as fast as his barked shinswould let him. 

He came to the spot which he recognized as that where he hadthrown off the trunk. He saw the trampled and broken bushes andmade for the road. 

He had not gone far when he saw, far down, Del Mar suddenlyattacked and thrown down, apparently by his own chauffeur. Baileyran forward, but it was too late. The car was gone. 

As he came up to Del Mar lying outstretched in the road, Del Marwas just recovering consciousness. 

"What was the matter?" he asked. "Was he a traitor?"

He caught sight of the real chauffeur on the ground, stripped. 

Del Mar was furious. "No, " he swore, "it was that confounded grayfriar again, I think. And he has the trunk, too!"

 . . . . . . . 

Speeding up the road the former masquerader and motor-cycliststopped at last. 

Eagerly he leaped out of Del Mar's car and dragged the trunk overthe side regardless of the enamel. 

It was the work of only a moment for him to break the lock with apocket jimmy. 

One after another he pulled out and shook the clothes until frocksand gowns and lingerie lay strewn all about. 

But there was not a thing in the trunk that even remotelyresembled the torpedo model. 

The stranger scowled. 

Where was it?

CHAPTER VIII

THE VANISHING MAN

Del Mar had evidently, by this time, come to the conclusion thatElaine was the storm centre of the peculiar train of events thatfollowed the disappearance of Kennedy and his wireless torpedo. 

At any rate, as soon as he learned that Elaine was going to hercountry home for the summer, he took a bungalow some distance fromDodge Hall. In fact, it was more than a bungalow, for it was apretentious place surrounded by a wide lawn and beautiful shadetrees. 

There, on the day that Elaine decided to motor in from the city, Del Mar arrived with his valet. 

Evidently he lost no time in getting to work on his own affairs, whatever they might be. Inside his study, which was the largestroom in the house, a combination of both library and laboratory, he gave an order or two to his valet, then immediately sat down tohis new desk. He opened a drawer and took out a long hollowcylinder, closed at each end by air-tight caps, on one of whichwas a hook. 

Quickly he wrote a note and read it over: "Install submarine bellin place of these clumsy tubes. Am having harbor and bridges minedas per instructions from Government. D. "

He unscrewed the cap at one end of the tube, inserted the note andclosed it. Then he pushed a button on his desk. A panel in thewall opened and one of the men who had played policeman once forhim stepped out and saluted. 

"Here's a message to send below, " said Del Mar briefly. 

The man bowed and went back through the panel, closing it. 

Del Mar cleaned up his desk and then went out to look his newquarters over, to see whether everything had been preparedaccording to his instructions. 

From the concealed entrance to a cave on a hillside, Del Mar's manwho had gone through the panel in the bungalow appeared a fewminutes later and hurried down to the shore. It was a rocky coastwith stretches of cliffs and now and then a ravine and bit ofsandy beach. Gingerly he climbed down the rocks to the water. 

He took from his pocket the metal tube which Del Mar had given himand to the hook on one end attached a weight of lead. A moment helooked about cautiously. Then he threw the tube into the water andit sank quickly. He did not wait, but hurried back into the caveentrance. 

 . . . . . . . 

Elaine, Aunt Josephine and I motored down to Dodge Hall from thecity. Elaine's country house was on a fine estate near the LongIsland Sound and after the long run we were glad to pull up beforethe big house and get out of the car. As we approached the door, Ihappened to look down the road. 

"Well, that's the country, all right, " I exclaimed, pointing downthe road. "Look. "

Lumbering along was a huge heavy hay rack on top of which percheda farmer chewing a straw. Following along after him was a dog of apeculiar shepherd breed which I did not recognize. Atop of the haythe old fellow had piled a trunk and a basket. 

To our surprise the hay rack stopped before the house. "MissDodge?" drawled the farmer nasally. 

"Why, what do you suppose he can want?" asked Elaine moving outtoward the wagon while we followed. "Yes?"

"Here's a trunk, Miss Dodge, with your name on it, " he went ondragging it down. "I found it down by the railroad track. "

It was the trunk marked "E. Dodge" which had been thrown off thetrain, taken by Del Mar and rifled by the motor-cyclist. 

"How do you suppose it ever got here?" cried Elaine in wonder. 

"Must have fallen off the train, " I suggested. "You might havecollected the insurance under this new baggage law!"

"Jennings, " called Elaine. "Get Patrick and carry the trunk in. "

Together the butler and the gardener dragged it off. 

"Thank you, " said Elaine, endeavoring to pay the farmer. 

"No, no, Miss, " he demurred as he clucked to his horses. 

We waved to the old fellow. As he started to drive away, hereached down into the basket and drew out some yellow harvestapples. One at a time he tossed them to us as he lumbered off. 

"Truly rural, " remarked a voice behind us. 

It was Del Mar, all togged up and carrying a magazine in his hand. 

We chatted a moment, then Elaine started to go into the house withAunt Josephine. With Del Mar I followed. 

As she went Elaine took a bite of the apple. To her surprise itseparated neatly into two hollow halves. She looked inside. Therewas a note. Carefully she unfolded it and read. Like the others, it was not written but printed in pencil:

Be careful to unpack all your trunks yourself. Destroy this note. --A FRIEND. 

What did these mysterious warnings mean, she asked herself inamazement. Somehow so far they had worked out all right. She toreup the note and threw the pieces away. 

Del Mar and I stopped for a moment to talk. I did not notice thathe was not listening to me, but was surreptitiously watchingElaine. 

Elaine went into the house and we followed. Del Mar, however, dropped just a bit behind and, as he came to the place whereElaine had thrown the pieces of paper, dropped his magazine. Hestooped to pick it up and gathered the pieces, then rejoined us. 

"I hope you'll excuse me, " said Elaine brightly. "We've justarrived and I haven't a thing unpacked. "

Del Mar bowed and Elaine left us. Aunt Josephine followed shortly. Del Mar and I sat down at a table. As he talked he placed themagazine in his lap beneath the table, on his knees. I could notsee, but he was in reality secretly putting together the torn notewhich the farmer had thrown to Elaine. 

Finally he managed to fit all the pieces. A glance down wasenough. But his face betrayed nothing. Still under the table, heswept the pieces into his pocket and rose. 

"I'll drop in when you are more settled, " he excused himself, strolling leisurely out again. 

 . . . . . . . 

Up in the bedroom Elaine's maid, Marie, had been unpacking. 

"Well, what do you know about that?" she exclaimed as Jennings andPatrick came dragging in the banged-up trunk. 

"Very queer, " remarked Jennings, detailing the little he had seen, while Patrick left. 

The entrance of Elaine put an end to the interesting gossip andMarie started to open the trunk. 

"No, Marie, " said Elaine. "I'll unpack them my self. You can putthe things away later. You and Jennings may go. "

Quickly she took the things out of the battered trunk. Then shestarted on the other trunk which was like it but not marked. Shethrew out a couple of garments, then paused, startled. 

There was the lost torpedo--where Bertholdi had stuck it in herhaste! Elaine picked it up and looked at it in wonder as itrecalled all those last days before Kennedy was lost. For themoment she did not know quite what to make of it. What should shedo?

Finally she decided to lock it up in the bureau drawer and tellme. Not only did she lock the drawer but, as she left her room, she took the key of the door from the lock inside and locked itoutside. 

 . . . . . . . 

Del Mar did not go far from the house, however. He scarcelyreached the edge of the grounds where he was sure he was notobserved when he placed his fingers to his lips and whistled. Aninstant later two of his men appeared from behind a hedge. 

"You must get into her room, " he ordered. "That torpedo is in herluggage somewhere, after all. "

They bowed and disappeared again into the shrubbery while Del Marturned and retraced his steps to the house. 

In the rear of the house the two emissaries of Del Mar stole outof the shelter of some bushes and stood for a moment looking. Elaine's windows were high above them, too high to reach. Thereseemed to be no way to get to them and there was no ladder insight. 

"We'll have to use the Dutch house-man's method, " decided one. 

Together they went around the house toward the laundry. It wasonly a few minutes later that they returned. No one was about. Quickly one of them took off his coat. Around his waist he hadwound a coil of rope. Deftly he began to climb a tree whose upperbranches fell over the roof. Cat-like he made his way out along abranch and managed to reach the roof. He made his way along theridge pole to a chimney which was directly back of and in linewith Elaine's windows. Then he uncoiled the rope and made one endfast to the chimney. Letting the other end fall free down theroof, he carefully lowered himself over the edge. Thus it was notdifficult to get into Elaine's room by stepping on the window-silland going through the open window. 

The man began a rapid search of the room, turning up and pawingeverything that Elaine had unpacked. Then he began on the littlewriting-desk, the dresser and the bureau drawers. A subtle smileflashed over his face as he came to one drawer that was locked. Hepulled a sectional jimmy from his coat and forced it open. 

There lay the precious torpedo. 

The man clutched at it with a look of exultation. Without anotherglance at the room he rushed to the window, seized the rope andpulled himself to the roof, going as he had come. 

 . . . . . . . 

It did not take me long to unpack the few things I had brought andI was soon back again in the living-room, where Aunt Josephinejoined me in a few minutes. 

Just as Elaine came hurriedly down the stairway and started towardme, Del Mar entered from the porch. She stopped. Del Mar watchedher closely. Had she found anything? He was sure of it. 

Her hesitation was only for a moment, however. "Walter, " she said, "may I speak to you a moment? Excuse us, please?"

Aunt Josephine went out toward the back of the house to see howthe servants were getting on, while I followed Elaine up-stairs. Del Mar with a bow seated himself and opened his magazine. Nosooner had we gone, however, than he laid it down and cautiouslyfollowed us. 

Elaine was evidently very much excited as she entered her daintylittle room and closed the door. "Walter, " she cried, "I've foundthe torpedo!"

We looked about at the general disorder. "Why, " she exclaimednervously, "some one has been here--and I locked the door, too. "

She almost ran over to her bureau drawer. It had been jimmied openin the few minutes while she was down-stairs. The torpedo wasgone. We looked at each other, aghast. 

Behind us, however, we did not see the keen and watchful eyes ofDel Mar, opening the door and peering in. As he saw us, he closedthe door softly, went down-stairs and out of the house. 

 . . . . . . . 

Perhaps half a mile down the road, the farmer abandoned his hayrack and now, followed by his peculiar dog, walked back. Hestopped at a point in the road where he could see the Dodge housein the distance, sat on the rail fence and lighted a blackenedcorn-cob pipe. 

There he sat for some time apparently engrossed in his ownthoughts about the weather, the dog lying at his feet. Now andthen he looked fixedly toward Dodge Hall. 

Suddenly his vagrant attention seemed to be riveted on the house. He drew a field-glass from his pocket and levelled it. Sureenough, there was a man coming out of a window, pulling himself upto the roof by a rope and going across the roof tree. He loweredthe glasses quickly and climbed off the fence with a hithertounwonted energy. 

"Come, Searchlight, " he called to the dog, as together they movedoff quickly in the direction he had been looking. Del Mar's menwere coming through the hedge that surrounded the Dodge estatejust as the farmer and his dog stepped out in front of them frombehind a thicket. 

"Just a minute, " he called. "I want to speak to you. "

He enforced his words with a vicious looking gun. It was two toone and they closed with him. Before he could shoot, they hadknocked the gun out of his hand. Then they tried to break away andrun. 

But the farmer seized one of them and held him. Meanwhile the dogdeveloped traits all his own. He ran in and out between the legsof the other man until he threw him. There he stood, over him. Theman attempted to rise. Again the dog threw him and kept him down. He was a trained Belgian sheep hound, a splendid police dog. 

"Confound the brute, " growled the man, reaching for his gun. 

As he drew it, the dog seized his wrist and with a cry the mandropped the gun. That, too, was part of the dog's training. 

While the farmer and the other man struggled on the ground, thetorpedo worked its way half from the man's pocket. The farmerseized it. The man fell back, limp, and the farmer, with thetorpedo in one hand, grasped at the gun on the ground andstraightened up. 

He had no sooner risen than the man was at him again. Hisunconsciousness had been merely feigned. The struggle was renewed. 

At that point, the hedge down the road parted and Del Mar steppedout. A glance was enough to tell him what was going on. He drewhis gun and ran swiftly toward the combatants. 

As Del Mar approached, his man succeeded in knocking the torpedofrom the farmer's hand. There it lay, several feet away. Thereseemed to be no chance for either man to get it. 

Quickly the farmer bent his wrist, aiming the gun deliberately atthe precious torpedo. As fast as he could he pulled the trigger. Five of the six shots penetrated the little model. 

So surprised was his antagonist that the farmer was able to knockhim out with the butt of his gun. He broke away and fled, whistling on a police whistle for the dog just as Del Mar ran up. A couple of shots from Del Mar flew wild as the farmer and his dogdisappeared. 

Del Mar stopped and picked up the model. It had been shot into anunrecognizable mass of scrap. In a fury, Del Mar dashed it on theground, cursing his men as he did so. The strange disappearanceof the torpedo model from Elaine's room worried both of us. Doubtless if Kennedy had been there he would have known just whatto do. But we could not decide. 

"Really, " considered Elaine, "I think we had better take Mr. DelMar into our confidence. "

"Still, we've had a great many warnings, " I objected. 

"I know that, " she persisted, "but they have all come from veryunreliable sources. "

"Very well, " I agreed finally, "then let's drive over to hisbungalow. "

Elaine ordered her little runabout and a few moments later weclimbed into it and Elaine shot the car away. 

As we rode along, the country seemed so quiet that no one wouldever have suspected that foreign agents lurked all about. But itwas just under such a cover that the nefarious bridge and harbor-mining work ordered by Del Mar's superiors was going aheadquietly. 

As our car climbed a hill on the other side of which, in thevalley, was a bridge, we could not see one of Del Mar's men inhiding at the top. He saw us, however, and immediately wigwaggedwith his handkerchief to several others down at the bridge wherethey were attaching a pair of wires to the planking. 

"Some one coming, " muttered one who was evidently a lookout. 

The men stopped work immediately and hid in the brush. Our carpassed over the bridge and we saw nothing wrong. But no sooner hadwe gone than the men crept out and resumed work which hadprogressed to the point where they were ready to carry the wiresof an electric connection through the grass, concealing them asthey went. 

In the study of his bungalow, all this time, Del Mar was stridingangrily up and down, while his men waited in silence. 

Finally he paused and turned to one of them. "See that the coastis clear and kept clear, " he ordered. "I want to go down. "

The man saluted and went out through the panel. A moment later DelMar gave some orders to the other man who also saluted and leftthe house by the front door, just as our car pulled up. 

Del Mar, the moment the man was gone, put on his hat and movedtoward the panel in the wall. He was about to enter when he heardsome one coming down the hall to the study and stepped back, closing the panel. It was the butler announcing us. 

We had entered Del Mar's bungalow and now were conducted to hislibrary. There Elaine told him the whole story, much to hisapparent surprise, for Del Mar was a wonderful actor. 

"You see, " he said as she finished telling of the finding and thelosing of the torpedo, "just what I had feared would happen hashappened. Doubtless the foreign agents have the deadly weapon, now. However, I'll not quit. Perhaps we may run them down yet. "

He reassured us and we thanked him as we said good-bye. Outside, Elaine and I got into the car again and a moment later spun off, making a little detour first through the country before hittingthe shore road back again to Dodge Hall. 

On the rocky shore of the promontory, several men were engaged insinking a peculiar heavy disk which they submerged about ten ortwelve feet. It seemed to be held by a cable and to it wires wereattached, apparently so that when a key was pressed a circuit wasclosed. 

It was an "oscillator", a new system for the employment of soundfor submarine signalling, using water instead of air as a mediumto transmit sound waves. It was composed of a ring magnet, acopper tube lying in an air-gap in a magnetic field and astationary central armature. The tube was attached to a steeldiaphragm. Really it was a submarine bell which could be used fortelegraphing or telephoning both ways through water. 

The men finished executing the directions of Del Mar and left, carefully concealing the land connections and key of the bell, while we were still at Del Mar's. 

We had no sooner left, however, than one of the men who had beenengaged in installing the submarine bell entered the library. 

"Well?" demanded Del Mar. 

"The bell is installed, sir, " he said. "It will be working soon. "

"Good, " nodded Del Mar. 

He went to a drawer and from it took a peculiar looking helmet towhich was attached a sort of harness fitting over the shouldersand carrying a tank of oxygen. The head-piece was a most weirdcontrivance, with what looked like a huge glass eye in front. Itwas in reality a submarine life-saving apparatus. 

Del Mar put it on, all except the helmet which he carried withhim, and then, with his assistant, went out through the panel inthe wall. Through the underground passage the two groped theirway, lighted by an electric torch, until at last they came to theentrance hidden in the underbrush, near the shore. 

Del Mar went over to the concealed station from which thesubmarine bell was sounded and pressed the key as a signal. Thenhe adjusted the submarine helmet to his head and deliberatelywaded out into the water, further and further, up to his head, then deeper still. 

As he disappeared into the water, his emissary turned and wentback toward the shore road. 

 . . . . . . . 

The ride around through the country and back to the shore, roadfrom Del Mar's was pleasant. In fact it was always pleasant to bewith Elaine, especially in a car. 

We were spinning along at a fast clip when we came to a rocky partof the coast. As we made a turn a sharp breeze took off my hat andwhirled it far off the road and among the rocks of the shore. Elaine shut down the engine, with a laugh at me, and we left thecar by the road while we climbed down the rocks after the hat. 

It had been carried into the water, close to shore and, stilllaughing, we clambered over the rocks. Elaine insisted on gettingit herself and in fact did get it. She was just about to hand itto me, when something bobbed up in the water just in front of us. She reached for it and fished it out. It was a cylinder with air-tight caps on both ends, in one of which was a hook. 

"What do you suppose it is?" she asked, looking it over as we madeour way up the rocks again to the car. "Where did it come from?"

We did not see a man standing by our car, but he saw us. It wasDel Mar's man who had paused on his way to watch us. As weapproached he hid on the other side of the road. 

By this time we had reached the car and opened the cylinder. Inside was a note which read:

 "Chief arrived safely. Keep watch. "

"What does it mean?" repeated Elaine, mystified. 

Neither of us could guess and I doubt whether we would haveunderstood any better if we had seen a sinister face peering at usfrom behind a rock near-by, although doubtless the man knew whatwas in the tube and what it meant. 

We climbed into the car and started again. As we disappeared, theman came from behind the rocks and ran quickly up to the top ofthe hill. There, from the bushes, he pulled out a peculiarinstrument composed of a strange series of lenses and mirrors setup on a tripod. 

Eagerly he placed the tripod, adjusting the lenses and mirrors inthe sunlight. Then he began working them, and it was apparent thathe was flashing light beams, using a Morse code. It was aheliograph. 

Down the shore on the top of the next hill sat the man who hadalready given the signal with the handkerchief to those in thevalley who were working on the mining of the bridge. As he satthere, his eye caught the flash of the heliograph signal. Hesprang up and watched intently. Rapidly he jotted down the messagethat was being flashed in the sunlight:

 Dodge girl has message from below. Coming in car. Blow first bridge she crosses. 

Down the valley the lookout made his way as fast as he could. Ashe approached the two men who had been mining the bridge, hewhistled sharply. They answered and hurried to meet him. 

"Just got a heliograph, " he panted. "The Dodge girl must havepicked up one of the messages that came from below. She's comingover the hill now in a car. We've got to blow up the bridge as shecrosses. "

The men were hurrying now toward the bridge which they had mined. Not a moment was to be lost, for already they could see us comingover the crest of the hill. 

In a few seconds they reached the hidden plunger firing-box whichhad been arranged to explode the charge under the bridge. Therethey crouched in the brush ready to press the plunger the momentour car touched the planking. 

One of the men crept out a little nearer the road. "They'recoming!" he called back, dropping down again. "Get ready!"

 . . . . . . . 

Del Mar's emissaries had not reckoned, however, that any one elsemight be about to whom the heliograph was an open book. 

But, further over on the hill, hiding among the trees, the oldfarmer and his dog were sitting quietly. The old man was sweepingthe Sound with his glasses, as if he expected to see something anymoment. 

To his surprise, however, he caught a flash of the heliograph fromthe land. Quickly he turned and jotted down the signals. As he didso, he seemed greatly excited, for the message read:

 Dodge girl has message from below. Coming in car. Blow first bridge she crosses. 

Quickly he turned his glasses down the road. There he could seeour car rapidly approaching. He put up his glasses and hurrieddown the hill toward the bridge. Then he broke into a run, the dogscouting ahead. 

We were going along the road nicely now, coasting down the hill. As we approached the bridge, Elaine slowed up a bit, to cross, forthe planking was loose. 

Just then the farmer who had been running down the hill saw us. 

"Stop!" he shouted. 

But we did not hear. He ran after us, but such a chase washopeless. He stopped, in despair. 

With a gesture of vexation he took a step or two mechanically offthe road. 

Elaine and I were coming fast to the bridge now. 

In their hiding-place, Del Mar's men were watching breathlessly. The leader was just about to press the plunger when all of asudden a branch in the thicket beside him crackled. There stoodthe farmer and his dog!

Instantly the farmer seemed to take in the situation. With a cryhe threw himself at the man who had the plunger. Another manleaped at the farmer. The dog settled him. The others piled in anda terrific struggle followed. It was all so rapid that, to all, seconds seemed like hours. 

We were just starting to cross the bridge. 

One of the men broke away and crawled toward the plunger box. Ourcar was now in the middle of the bridge. 

Over and over rolled the men, the dog doing his best to help hismaster. The man who had broken away reached toward the plunger. 

With a shout he pushed it down. 

 . . . . . . . 

Our car had just cleared the bridge when we were startled by aterrific roar behind us. It was as though a thousand tires hadblown out at once. Elaine shut off the engine automatically and welooked back. 

The whole bridge had been blown up. A second before we had been inthe middle of it. 

As the explosion came, the men who had been struggling in thethicket, paused, startled, and stared out. At that instant the oldfarmer saw his chance. It was all over and he bolted, calling thedog. 

Along the road to the bridge he ran, two of the men after him. 

"Come back, " growled the leader. "Let him go. Do you want us allto get caught?"

As the farmer ran up to the bridge, he saw it in ruins. But downthe road he could see Elaine and myself, sitting in the car, staring back at the peril which we had so narrowly escaped. Hisface lighted up in as great joy as a few moments before it hadshowed despair. 

"What can that have been?" asked Elaine, starting to get out ofthe car. "What caused it?"

"I don't know, " I returned, taking her arm firmly. "But enough hashappened to-day. If it was intended for us, we'd better not stop. Some one might take a shot at us. Come. We have the car. We canget out before any one does anything more. Let's do it. Things aregoing on about us of which we know nothing. The safest thing is toget away. "

Elaine looked at the bridge in ruins and shuddered. It was theclosest we could have been to death and have escaped. Then sheturned to the wheel quickly and the little car fairly jumpedahead. 

"Oh, if Craig were only here, " she murmured. "He would know whatto do. "

As we disappeared over the crest of the next hill, safe, the oldfarmer and his dog looked hard at us. 

The silence after the explosion was ominous. 

He glanced about. No one was pursuing him. That seemed ominous, too. But if they did pursue he was prepared to elude them. Theymust never recognize the old farmer. 

As he turned, he deliberately pulled off his beard, then plungedagain into the woods and was lost. 

CHAPTER IX

THE SUBMARINE HARBOR

It was not long after the almost miraculous escape of Elaine andmyself from the blowing up of the bridge on the shore road thatDel Mar returned from his mysterious mission which had, apparently, taken him actually down to the bottom of the sea. 

The panel in the wall of his library opened and in the stilldripping submarine suit, holding under his arm the weird helmet, Del Mar entered. No sooner had he begun to remove his wet diving-suit than the man who had signalled with the heliograph that wehad found Del Mar's message from "below, " whatever that mightmean, entered the house and was announced by the valet. 

"Let him come in immediately, " ordered Del Mar, placing his suitin a closet. Then to the man, as he entered, he said, "Well, what's new?"

"Quite a bit, " returned the man, frowning still over Elaine'saccidental discovery of the under-water communication. "The Dodgegirl happened to pick up one of the tubes with a message justafter you went down. I tried to get her by blowing up the bridge, but it didn't work, somehow. "

"We'll have to silence her, " remarked Del Mar angrily with asinister frown. "You stay here and wait for orders. "

A moment later he made his way down to a private dock on hisgrounds and jumped aboard a trim little speed boat moored there. He started the motor and off the boat feathered in a cloud ofspray. 

It was only a moment by water before he reached the Dodge dock. There he tied his boat and hurried up the dock. 

 . . . . . . . 

Elaine and I arrived home without any further experiences afterour hairbreadth escape from the explosion at the bridge. 

We were in doubt at first, however, just what to do about themysterious message which we had picked up in the harbor. 

"Really, Walter, " remarked Elaine, after we had considered thematter for some time, "I think we ought to send that message tothe government at Washington. "

Already she had seated herself at her desk and began to write, while I examined the metal tube and the note again. 

"There, " she said at length, handing me the note she had written. "How does that sound?"

I read it while she addressed the envelope. "Very good, " Ireplied, handing it back. 

She folded it and shoved it into the envelope on which she hadwritten:

 Chief, Secret Service, Washington, D. C. 

I was studying the address, wondering whether this was just thething to do, when Elaine decided the matter by energeticallyringing the bell for Jennings. 

"Post that, Jennings, please, " she directed. 

The butler bowed just as the door-bell rang. He turned to go. 

"Just a minute, " I interrupted. "I think perhaps I'd better mailit myself, after all. "

He handed me the letter and went out. 

"Yes, Walter, " agreed Elaine, "that would be better. Register it, too. "

"How do you do?" greeted a suave voice. 

It was Del Mar. As he passed me to speak to Elaine, apparently byaccident, he knocked the letter from my hand. 

"I beg your pardon, " he apologized, quickly stooping and pickingit up. 

Though he managed to read the address, he maintained his composureand handed the letter back to me. I started to go out, when Elainecalled to me. 

"Excuse me just a moment, Mr. Del Mar?" she queried, accompanyingme out on the porch. 

Already a saddle horse had been brought around for me. 

"Perhaps you'd better put a special delivery stamp on it, too, Walter, " she added, walking along with me. "And be very careful. "

"I will, " I promised, as I rode off. 

Del Mar, alone, seized the opportunity to go over quietly to thetelephone. It was the work of only a moment to call up hisbungalow where the emissary who had placed the submarine bell waswaiting for orders. Quickly Del Mar whispered his instructionswhich the man took, and hung up the receiver. 

"I hope you'll pardon me, " said Elaine, entering just as Del Marleft the telephone. "Mr. Jameson was going into town and I had anumber of little things I wanted him to do. Won't you sit down?"

They chatted for a few moments, but Del Mar did not stay verylong. He excused himself shortly and Elaine bade him good-bye atthe door as he walked off, apparently, down the road I had taken. 

 . . . . . . . 

Del Mar's emissary hurried from the bungalow and almost ran downthe road until he came to a spot where two men were hiding. 

"Jameson is coming with a letter which the Dodge girl has writtento the Secret Service, " he cried pointing excitedly up the road. "You've got to get it, see?"

I was cantering along nicely down the road by the shore, whensuddenly, from behind some rocks and bushes, three men leaped outat me. One of them seized the horse's bridle, while the other twoquickly dragged me out of the saddle. 

It was very unexpected, but I had time enough to draw my gun andfire once. I hit one of the men, too, in the arm, and he staggeredback, the blood spurting all over the road. 

But before I could fire at the others, they knocked the gun frommy hand. Frightened, the horse turned and bolted, riderless. 

Together, they dragged me off the road and into the thicket whereI was tied and gagged and laid on the ground while one of thembound up the wounded arm of the man I had hit. It was not longbefore one of them began searching me. 

"Aha!" he growled, pulling the letter from my pocket and lookingat it with satisfaction. "Here it is. "

He tore the letter open, throwing the envelope on the ground, andread it. 

"There, confound you, " he muttered. "The government 'll never getthat. Come on, men. Bring him this way. "

He shoved the letter into his pocket and led the way through theunderbrush, while the others half-dragged, half-pushed me along. We had not gone very far before one of the three men, who appearedto be the leader, paused. 

"Take him to the hang-out, " he ordered gruffly. "I'll have toreport to the Chief. "

He disappeared down toward the shore of the harbor while theothers prodded me along. 

 . . . . . . . 

Down near the Dodge dock, along the shore, walked a man wearing abroad-brimmed hat and a plain suit of duck. His prim collar andtie comported well with his smoked glasses. Instinctively onewould have called him "Professor", though whether naturalist, geologist, or plain "bugologist", one would have had difficulty indetermining. 

He seemed, as a matter-of-fact, to be a naturalist, for he wasengrossed in picking up specimens. But he was not so muchengrossed as to fail to hear the approach of footsteps down thegravel walk from Dodge Hall to the dock. He looked up in time tosee Del Mar coming, and quietly slipped into the shrubbery up onthe shore. 

On the dock, Del Mar stood for some minutes, waiting. Finally, along the shore came another figure. It was the emissary to whomDel Mar had telephoned and who had searched me. The naturalistdrew back into his hiding-place, peering out keenly. 

"Well?" demanded Del Mar. "What luck?"

"We've got him, " returned the man with brief satisfaction. "Here'sthe letter she was sending to the Secret Service. "

Del Mar seized the note which the man handed to him and read iteagerly. "Good, " he exclaimed. "That would have put an end to thewhole operations about here. Come on. Get into the boat. "

For some reason best known to himself, the naturalist seemed tohave lost all interest in his specimens and to have a suddencuriosity about Del Mar's affairs. As the motor-boat sped off, hecame slowly and cautiously out of his hiding-place and gazedfixedly at Del Mar. 

No sooner had Del Mar's boat got a little distance out into theharbor than the naturalist hurried down the Dodge dock. There wastied Elaine's own fast little runabout. He jumped into it andstarted the engine, following quickly in Del Mar's wake. 

"Look, " called the emissary to Del Mar, spying the Dodge boat withthe naturalist in it, skimming rapidly after them. 

Del Mar strained his eyes back through his glass at the pursuingboat. But the naturalist, in spite of his smoked glasses, seemednot to have impaired his eyesight by his studies. He caught theglint of the sun on the lens at Del Mar's eye and dropped downinto the bottom of his own boat where he was at least safe fromscrutiny, if his boat were not. 

Del Mar lowered his glass. "That's the Dodge boat, " he saidthoughtfully. "I don't like the looks of that fellow. Give hermore speed. "

 . . . . . . . 

Del Mar had not been gone long before Elaine decided to take aride herself. She ordered her horse around from the stables whileshe donned her neat little riding-habit. A few minutes later, asthe groom held the horse, she mounted and rode away, choosing theroad by which I had gone, expecting to meet me on the return fromtown. 

She was galloping along at a good clip when suddenly her horseshied at something. 

"Whoa, Buster, " pacified Elaine. 

But it was of no use. Buster still reared up. 

"Why, what is the matter?" she asked. "What do you see?"

She looked down at the ground. There was a spot of blood in thedust. Buster was one of those horses to whom the sight of blood isterrifying. 

Elaine pulled up beside the road. There was a revolver lying inthe grass. She dismounted and picked it up. No sooner had shelooked at it than she discovered the initials "W. J. " carved onthe butt. 

"Walter Jameson!" she exclaimed, realizing suddenly that it wasmine. "It's been fired, too!"

Her eye fell again on the blood spots. "Blood and--footprints--into the brush! "she gasped in horror, following the trail. " Whatcould have happened to Walter?"

With the revolver, Elaine followed where the bushes were trampleddown until she came to the place where I had been bound. There shespied some pieces of paper lying on the ground and picked them up. 

She put them together. They were pieces of the envelope of theletter which we had decided to send to Washington. 

"Which way did they take him?" she asked, looking all about butdiscovering no trail. 

She was plainly at a loss what course to pursue. 

"What would Craig do?" she asked herself. 

Finding no answer, she stood thinking a moment, slowly tearing theenvelope to pieces. If she were to do anything at all, it must bedone quickly. Suddenly an idea seemed to occur to her. She threwthe pieces of paper into the air and let them blow away. It wasunscientific detection, perhaps, but the wind actually took themand carried them in the direction in which the men had forced meto walk. 

"That's it!" cried Elaine to herself. "I'll follow thatdirection. "

 . . . . . . . 

Meanwhile, the men had hurried me off along a trail that led tothe foot of a cliff. Then the trail wound up the cliff. We climbedit until we reached the top. 

There in the rock was a rude stairway. I drew back. But one mandrew a gun and the other preceded me down. Along the steep stonesteps cut out in the face of the rock, they forced me. 

Below, in a rift in the very wall of the cliff, was a cave inwhich already were two more of Del Mar's men, talking in lowtones, in the dim light. 

As we made our way down the breakneck stairway, the foremost of mycaptors stepped on a large flat rock. As he did so, it gave wayslightly under his foot. 

A light in the cave flashed up. Under the rock was a secretelectric connection which operated a lamp. 

"Some one coming, " muttered the two men, on guard instantly. 

It was a somewhat precarious footing as we descended and for themoment I was more concerned for my safety from a fall thananything else. Once my foot did slip and a shower of pebbles andsmall pieces of rock started down the face of the cliff. 

As we passed down, the man behind me, still keeping me covered, raised the flat stone on the top step. Carefully, he reset theconnection of the alarm rock, a series of metal points that bentunder the weight of a person and made a contact which signalleddown in the cavern the approach of any one who did not know thesecret. 

As he did so, the light in the cavern went out. "It's all right, "said one of the men down there, with a look of relief. 

We now went down the perilous stairway until we came to the cave. 

"I've got a prisoner--orders of the Chief, " growled one of mycaptors, thrusting me in roughly. 

They forced me into a corner where they tied me again, hand andfoot. Then they began debating in low, sinister tones, what was tobe done with me next. Once in a while I could catch a word. Fearmade my senses hypersensitive. 

They were arguing whether they should make away with me now orlater!

Finally the leader rose. "It's three to one, " I heard him mutter. "He dies now. "

He turned and took a menacing step toward me. 

"Hands up!"

It was a shrill, firm voice that rang out at the mouth of the caveas a figure cut off what little light there was. 

 . . . . . . . 

Elaine passed along, hunting for the trail. Suddenly a shower ofpebbles came falling down from a cliff above her. Some of them hither and she looked up quickly. 

There she could see me being led along by my captors. She hid inthe brush and watched. During all the operations of the descent ofthe rock stairway and the resetting of the alarm, she continued towatch, straining her eyes to see what they were doing. 

As we entered the cave, she stepped out from her concealment andlooked sharply up at us, as we disappeared. Then she climbed thepath up the cliff until she came to the flight of stone stepsleading downward again. 

Already she had seen the man behind me doing something with thestone that formed the top step. She stooped down and examined thestone. Carefully she raised it and looked underneath beforestepping on it. There she could see the electric connection. Sheset the stone aside and looked again down the dangerous stairway. 

It made her shudder. "I must get him, " she murmured to herself. "Yes, I must. Even now it may be too late. "

With a supreme effort of determination she got herself together, drew my gun which she had picked up, and started down the cliff, stepping noiselessly. 

At last Elaine came to the cave. She stood just aside from thedoor, gun in hand, and listened, aghast. 

Inside she could hear voices of four men, and they were arguingwhether they should kill me or not. It was four against one woman, but she did not falter. 

They had just decided to make away with me immediately and theleader had turned toward me with the threat still on his lips. Itwas now or never. Resolutely she took a step forward and into thecave. 

"Hands up!" she demanded, firmly. 

The thing was so unexpected in the security of their secrethiding-place protected by the rock alarm that, before they knewit, Elaine had them all lined up against the wall. 

Keeping them carefully covered, she moved over toward me. Shepicked up a knife that lay near-by and started to cut the ropeswhich held me. 

As she did so, one of the men, with an oath, leaped forward torush her. But Elaine was not to be caught off her guard. Instantlyshe fired. The man staggered back, and fell. 

That cooled the ardor of the other three considerably, especiallynow as I was free, too. While she held them up still, with theirhands in the air, I went through their pockets, taking out theirweapons. 

Then, still keeping them covered, we backed out of the cave. Backward we made our way up the dangerous flight of steps againwith guns levelled at the cave entrance, Elaine going up first. 

Once a head stuck itself out of the cave entrance. I firedinstantly and it jerked itself back in again just in time. Thatwas the only trouble we had, apparently. 

Cautiously and slowly we made our way toward the top of the cliff. 

 . . . . . . . 

One look backward from his motor-boat was enough for Del Mar. Hemust evade that inquisitive naturalist. He turned to his man. 

"Get out that apparatus, " he ordered. 

The man opened a locker and brought out the curious submarinerescue helmet and suit. Del Mar took them up and began to put thesuit on, stooping down in the shelter of the boat so that hisactions could not be seen by the naturalist in the pursuing boat. 

The naturalist was all this time peering ahead keenly at Del Mar'sboat, trying to make it out. He bent over and adjusted the engineto get up more speed and the boat shot ahead faster. 

By this time, Del Mar had put on the submarine apparatus, allexcept the helmet, and was crouching low in the boat. Hastily, herolled a piece of canvas into the semblance of a body, put hiscoat and hat on it and set it on the seat which he had occupiedbefore. 

Just then Del Mar's boat ran around the promontory where Wu Fanghad met the submarine that had brought Del Mar into the countryand landed him so strangely. 

The boat slowed down under shelter of the rocks and Del Mar addeda pair of heavy lead-soled shoes to his outfit in order to weighthimself down. Finally he put on the helmet, let himself over theside of the boat, and disappeared into the water. 

His aide started the motor and the boat shot ahead again, with thedummy still occupying Del Mar's seat. As the boat swung out andmade a wide sweeping curve away from the point at which Del Marhad gone overboard, the naturalist in the Dodge boat came aroundthe promontory and saw it, changing his course accordingly, andgaining somewhat. 

 . . . . . . . 

Del Mar sank, upright and rapidly, down in the shallow water tothe bottom. Once having his feet on something approaching firmground, he gazed about through the window-like eye of the helmetuntil he got his bearings. Then he began to walk heavily along thebottom of the harbor, over sand and rocks. 

It was a strange walk that he took, half stumbling, slowly andcumbersomely groping his way like a queer under-water animal. 

If any one could have seen him, he would have noted that Del Marwas going toward the base of a huge Focky cliff that jutted farout into the harbor, where the water was deep, a dangerous point, avoided by craft of all kinds. Far over his head the waves beat onthe rocks angrily. But down there, concealed beneath the surfaceof the harbor, was a sort of huge arch of stone, through which acomparatively rapid current ran as the tide ebbed and flowed. 

Del Mar let himself be carried along with the current which wasnow running in and thus with comparative ease made his way, stillgroping, through the arch. Once under it and a few feet beyond, hedeliberately kicked off the leaden-soled shoes and, thuslightened, rose rapidly to the surface of the water. 

As he bobbed up, a strange sight met his eyes--not strangehowever, to Del Mar. Above, the rocks formed a huge dome over thewater which the tides forced in and out through the secretentrance through which he came. No other entrance, apparently, except that from the waters of the harbor led to this peculiarden. 

Lying quietly moored to the rocky piers lay three submarine boats. Further back, on a ledge of rocks, blasted out, stood a littlebuilding, a sort of office or headquarters. Near-by was a shedwhere were kept gas and oil, supplies and ammunition, in facteverything that a submarine might need. 

This was the reason for Del Mar's presence in the neighborhood. Itwas the secret submarine harbor of the foreign agents who wereoperating in America!

Already a sentry, pacing up and down, had seen the bubbles in thewater that indicated that some one had come through the archwayand was down "below, " as Del Mar and his men called it. 

Gazing down the sentry saw the queer helmeted figure float up fromthe bottom of the pool. He reached out and helped the figureclamber up out of the water to the ledge on which he stood. DelMar saluted, and the sentry returned the secret salute, helpinghim remove the dripping helmet and suit. 

A moment later, in the queer little submarine office, Del Mar hadevidently planned to take up the nefarious secret work on which hewas engaged. Several men of a naval and military bearing wereseated about a table, already, studying maps and plans anddocuments of all descriptions. They did not seem to belong to anynation in particular. In fact their uniforms, if such they mightbe called, were of a character to disguise their nationality. Butthat they were hostile to the country under which they literallyhad their hidden retreat, of that there could be no doubt. 

How high Del Mar stood in their counsels could have been seen at aglance from the instant deference exhibited at the mere mention ofhis name by the sentry who entered with the submarine suit whileDel Mar got himself together after his remarkable trip. 

The men at the council table rose and saluted as Del Mar himselfentered. He returned the salute and quietly made his way to thehead of the table where he took a seat, naturally. 

"This is the area in which we must work first of all, " he began, drawing toward him a book and opening it. "And we must strikequickly, for if they heed the advice in this book, it may be toolate for us to take advantage of their foolish unpreparedness. "

It was a book entitled "Defenseless America", written by a greatAmerican inventor, Hudson Maxim. 

Del Mar turned the pages until he came to and pointed out a map. The others gathered about him, leaning forward eagerly as hetalked to them. There, on the map, with a radius of some onehundred and seventy miles, was drawn a big segment of a circle, with Peekskill, New York, as a centre. 

"That is the heart of America, " said Del Mar, earnestly. "Itembraces New York, Boston, Philadelphia. But that is not thepoint. Here are the great majority of the gun and armor factories, the powder and cartridge works, together with the principal coalfields of Pennsylvania. "

He brought his fist down decisively on the table. "If we hold thissection, " he declared, "we practically hold America!"

Eagerly the other emissaries listened as Del Mar laid before themthe detailed facts which he was collecting, the greater missionthan the mere capture of Kennedy's wireless torpedo which hadbrought him into the country. Detail after detail of their plansthey discussed as they worked out the gigantic scheme. 

It was a war council of a secret advance guard of the enemies ofAmerica!

 . . . . . . . 

Meanwhile, Del Mar's man in his boat, cutting a wide circle andavoiding the Dodge boat carrying the naturalist, made his wayacross the harbor until he came to the shore. 

There he landed and proceeded up the beach to the foot of a rockycliff, where he turned and followed a trail up it to the top. Itwas the same path already travelled by my captors with me andlater followed by Elaine. 

As he came stealthily out from under cover, Del Mar's man gazeddown the stairway. He drew back at what he saw. Slowly he pulled agun from his pocket, watching down the steps with tense interest. There he could see Elaine and myself wearily climbing toward thetop, our backs toward him, as we covered the men in the cave. 

So surprised was he at what he saw that he forgot that his boatbelow had been followed by the mysterious naturalist, who, themoment Del Mar's man had landed, put on the last burst of speedand ran the Dodge boat close to the spot where the aide had leftDel Mar's. 

A glance into the boat sufficed to tell the naturalist that thefigure in it was only a dummy. He did not pause, but followed thetrail up the hill, until he was close after the emissary ahead, going more slowly. 

Only a few feet further along the cliff, the naturalist paused, too, keeping well under cover, for the man was now just ahead ofhim. He looked fixedly at him and saw him gaze down the cliff. Then he saw him slowly draw a gun. 

Who could be below? Quickly the naturalist's mind seemed to work. He crouched down, as if ready to spring. 

The emissary slowly raised his revolver and took careful aim atthe backs of Elaine and myself, as we came up the steps. 

But before he could pull the trigger, the naturalist, more likeone of the wild animals which he studied than like a human being, sprang from his concealment in the bushes and pounced on the manfrom behind, seizing him firmly. 

Over and over they rolled, struggling almost to the brink of theprecipice. 

Elaine and I had got almost to the top of the flight of steps, when suddenly we heard a shout above us and sounds of a terrificstruggle. We turned, to see two men, neither of whom we knew, fighting. One seemed to be a professor of natural history from hisdress and general appearance. The other had a sinister nondescriptlook. 

Nearer and nearer the edge of the cliff they rolled. We crouchedcloser to the rocky wall, gazing up at the death grapple of thetwo. Who they were we did not know but that one was fighting forand the other against us we could readily see. 

The more vicious of the two seemed to be forcing the naturalistslowly back, when, with a superhuman effort, the naturalist bracedhimself. His foot was actually on a small ledge of rock directlyat the edge of the cliff. 

He swung around quickly and struck the other man. The viciouslooking man pitched headlong over the cliff. 

We shrank back closer to the rock as the man hurtled through theair only a few feet from us. Down below, we could hear him landwith a sickening thud. 

Far over the edge Elaine leaned in a sort of fascination at theawful sight. For a moment, I thought the very imp of the perversehad got possession of her and that she herself would fall over. She brushed her hand unsteadily over her eyes and staggered. Icaught her just in time. 

It was only an instant before the brave girl recovered control ofherself. Then, together, we started again to climb up. 

As we did so the naturalist looked down and caught sight of usapproaching. Hastily he hid in the bushes. We reached the top ofthe stairway and gazed about for the victor in the contest. To oursurprise he was gone. 

"Come, " I urged. "We had better get away, quickly. "

As Elaine and I disappeared, the naturalist slowly emerged againfrom the bushes and looked after us. Then he gave a hasty glanceover the edge of the cliff at the man, twisted and motionless, farbelow. 

If we had looked back we might have seen the naturalist shake hishead in a manner strangely reminiscent as he turned and gazedagain after us. 

CHAPTER X

THE CONSPIRATORS

"You remember Lieutenant Woodward, the inventor of trodite?" Iasked Elaine one day after I had been out for a ride through thecountry. 

"Very well indeed, " she nodded with a look of wistfulness as themention of his name recalled Kennedy. "Why?"

"He's stationed at Fort Dale, not very far from here, at theentrance of the Sound, " I answered. 

"Then let's have him over at my garden party to-night, " sheexclaimed, sitting down and writing. 

DEAR LIEUTENANT, I have just learned that you are stationed at Fort Dale and wouldlike to have you meet some of my friends at a little garden partyI am holding to-night. 

Sincerely, ELAINE DODGE. 

Thus it was that a few hours afterward, in the officers' quartersat the Fort, an orderly entered with the mail and handed a letterto Lieutenant Woodward. He opened it and read the invitation withpleasure. He had scarcely finished reading and was hastening towrite a reply when the orderly entered again and saluted. 

"A Professor Arnold to see you, Lieutenant, " he announced. 

"Professor Arnold?" repeated Woodward. "I don't know any ProfessorArnold. Well, show him in, anyhow. "

The orderly ushered in a well-dressed man with a dark, heavy beardand large horn spectacles. Woodward eyed him curiously and a bitsuspiciously, as the stranger seated himself and made a fewremarks. 

The moment the orderly left the room, however, the professorlowered his voice to a whisper. Woodward listened in amazement, looked at him more closely, then laughed and shook handscordially. 

The professor leaned over again. Whatever it was that he said, itmade a great impression on the Lieutenant. 

"You know this fellow Del Mar?" asked Professor Arnold finally. 

"No, " replied Woodward. 

"Well, he's hanging around Miss Dodge all the time, " went onArnold. "There's something queer about his presence here at thistime. "

"I've an invitation to a garden party at her house to-night, "remarked Woodward. 

"Accept, " urged the professor, "and tell her you are bringing afriend. "

Woodward resumed writing and when he had finished handed the noteto the stranger, who read:

DEAR MISS DODGE, I shall be charmed to be with you to-night and with yourpermission will bring my friend, Professor Arnold. 

Truly yours, EDWARD WOODWARD. 

"Good, " nodded the professor, handing the note back. 

Woodward summoned an orderly. "See that that is delivered at DodgeHall to Miss Dodge herself as soon as possible, " he directed, asthe orderly took the note and saluted. 

Elaine, Aunt Josephine and I were in the garden when Lieut. Woodward's orderly rode up and delivered the letter. 

Elaine opened it and read. "That's all right, " she thanked theorderly. "Oh, Walter, he's coming to the garden party, and isgoing to bring a friend of his, a Professor Arnold. "

We chatted a few moments about the party. 

"Oh, " exclaimed Elaine suddenly, "I have an idea. "

"What is it?" we asked, smiling at her enthusiasm. 

"We'll have a fortune teller, " she cried. "Aunt Josephine, youshall play the part. "

"All right, if you really want me, " consented Aunt Josephinesmiling indulgently as we urged her. 

 . . . . . . . 

Down in the submarine harbor that afternoon, Del Mar and his menwere seated about the conference table. 

"I've traced out the course and the landing points of the greatAtlantic cable, " he said. "We must cut it. "

Del Mar turned to one of the men. "Take these plans to the captainof the steamer and tell him to get ready, " he went on. "Find outand send me word when the cutting can be done best. "

The man saluted and went out. 

Leaving the submarine harbor in the usual manner, he made his wayto a dock on the shore around the promontory and near the village. Tied to it was a small tramp steamer. The man walked down the dockand climbed aboard the boat. There several rough looking sailorswere lolling and standing about. The emissary selected thecaptain, a more than ordinarily tough looking individual. 

"Mr. Del Mar sends you the location of the Atlantic cable and theplace where he thinks it best to pick it up and cut it, " he said. 

The captain nodded. "I understand, " he replied. "I'll send himword later when it can be done best. "

A few minutes after dispatching his messenger, Del Mar left thesubmarine harbor himself and entered his bungalow by way of thesecret entrance. There he went immediately to his desk and pickedup the mail that had accumulated in his absence. One letter heread:

DEAR MR. DEL MAR, We shall be pleased to see you at a little garden party we areholding to-night. 

Sincerely, ELAINE DODGE. 

As he finished reading, he pushed the letter carelessly aside asthough he had no time for such frivolity. Then an idea seemed tooccur to him. He picked it up again and read it over. 

"I'll go, " he said to himself, simply. 

 . . . . . . . 

That night Dodge Hall was a blaze of lights and life, overflowingto the wide verandas and the garden. Guests in evening clotheswere arriving from all parts of the summer colony and were beingreceived by Elaine. Already some of them were dancing on theveranda. 

Among the late arrivals were Woodward and his friend, ProfessorArnold. 

"I'm so glad to know that you are stationed at Fort Dale, " greetedElaine. "I hope it will be for all summer. "

"I can't say how long it will be, but I shall make every effort tomake it all summer, " he replied gallantly. "Let me present myfriend, Professor Arnold. "

The professor bowed low and unprofessionally over Elaine's handand a moment later followed Woodward out into the next room as theother guests arrived to be greeted by Elaine. For a moment, however, she looked after him curiously. Once she started tofollow as though to speak to him. Just then, however, Del Marentered. 

"Good evening, " he interrupted, suavely. 

He stood for a moment with Elaine and talked. 

One doorway in the house was draped and a tent had been erected inthe room. Over the door was a sign which read: "The past and thefuture are an open book to Ancient Anna. " There Aunt Josephineheld forth in a most effective disguise as a fortune teller. 

Aunt Josephine had always had a curious desire to play the old hagin amateur dramatics and now she had gratified her desire to theutmost. Probably none of the guests knew that Ancient Anna was inreality Elaine's guardian. 

Elaine being otherwise occupied, I had selected one of theprettiest of the girls and we were strolling through the house, seeking a quiet spot for a chat. 

"Why don't you have your fortune told by Ancient Anna?" laughed mycompanion as we approached the tent. 

"Do you tell a good fortune reasonably?" I joked, entering. 

"Only the true fortunes, young man, " returned Ancient Annaseverely, starting in to read my palm. "You are very much inlove, " she went on, "but the lady is not in this tent. "

Very much embarrassed, I pulled my hand away. 

"How shocking!" mocked my companion, making believe to be verymuch annoyed. "I don't think I'll have my fortune told, " shedecided as we left the room. 

We sauntered along to the veranda where another friend claimed mycompanion for a dance which she had promised. As I strolled onalone, Del Mar and Elaine were already finishing a dance. He lefther a moment later and I hurried over, glad of the opportunity tosee her at last. 

Del Mar made his way alone among the guests and passed AuntJosephine disguised as the old hag seated before her tent. Justthen a waiter came through with a tray of ices. As he passed, DelMar stopped him, reached out and took an ice. 

Under the ice, as he had known, was a note. He took the notesurreptitiously, turned and presented the ice to Ancient Anna witha bow. 

"Thank you, kind sir, " she curtsied, taking it. 

Del Mar stepped aside and glanced at the little slip of paper. Then he crumpled it up and threw it aside, walking away. 

No sooner had he gone than Aunt Josephine reached out and pickedup the paper. She straightened it and looked at it. There wasnothing on the paper but a crude drawing of a sunrise on theocean. 

"What's that?" asked Aunt Josephine, in surprise. 

Just then Elaine and Lieutenant Woodward came in and stoppedbefore the tent. Aunt Josephine motioned to Elaine to come in andElaine followed. Lieutenant Woodward started after her. 

"No, no, young man, " laughed Ancient Anna, shaking her forefingerat him, "I don't want you. It's the pretty young lady I want. "

Woodward stood outside, though he did not know quite what it wasall about. While he was standing there, Professor Arnold came up. He had not exactly made a hit with the guests. At least, he seemedto make little effort to do so. He and Woodward walked away, talking earnestly. 

In the tent Aunt Josephine handed Elaine the piece of paper shehad picked up. 

"What does it mean?" asked Elaine, studying the curious drawing insurprise. 

"I'm sure I don't know, " confessed Aunt Josephine. 

"Nor I. "

Meanwhile Lieutenant Woodward and his friend had moved to a cornerof the veranda and stood looking intently into the moonlight. There was Del Mar deep in conversation with a man who had slippedout, at a quiet signal, from his hiding-place in the shrubbery. 

"That fellow is up to something, mark my words, " muttered Arnoldunder his breath. "I'd like to make an arrest, but I've got tohave some proof. "

They continued watching Del Mar but, so far at least, he didnothing that would have furnished them any evidence of anything. 

So the party went on, most merrily until, long after the guestshad left, Elaine sat in her dressing-gown up in her room, about toretire. 

Her maid had left her and she picked up the slip of paper from herdresser, looking at it thoughtfully. 

"What can a crude drawing of a sunrise on the sea mean?" she askedherself. 

For a long time she studied the paper, thinking it over. At lastan idea came to her. 

"I'll bet I have it, " she exclaimed to herself. "Something isgoing to happen on the water at sunrise. "

She took a pretty little alarm clock from the table, set it, andplaced it near her bed. 

Returning from the party to his library, Del Mar entered. Exceptfor the moonlight streaming in through the windows the room wasdark. He turned on the lights and crossed to the panel in thewall. As he touched a button the panel opened. Del Mar switchedoff the lights and went through the panel, closing it. 

Outside, at the other end of the passageway, was one of his men, waiting in the shadows as Del Mar came up. For a moment theytalked. "I'll be there, at sunrise, " agreed Del Mar, as the manleft and he reentered the secret passage. 

While he was conferring, at the library window appeared a face. Itwas Professor Arnold's. Cautiously he opened the window andlistened. Then he entered. 

First he went over to the door and set a chair under the knob. Next he drew an electric pocket bull's-eye and flashed it aboutthe room. He glanced about and finally went over to Del Mar's deskwhere he examined a batch of letters, his back to the secretpanel. 

Arnold was running rapidly through the papers on the desk, as heflashed his electric bull's-eye on them, when the panel in thewall opened slowly and Del Mar stepped into the room noiselessly. To his surprise he saw a round spot of light from an electricflashlight focussed on his desk. Some one was there! He drew agun. 

Arnold started suddenly. He heard the cocking of a revolver. Buthe did not look around. He merely thought an instant, quicker thanlightning, then pulled out a spool of black thread with one hand, while with the other he switched off the light, and dived down onhis stomach on the floor in the shadow. 

"Who's that?" demanded Del Mar. "Confound it! I should have firedat sight. "

The room was so dark now that it was impossible to see Arnold. DelMar gazed intently. Suddenly Arnold's electric torch glowed forthin a spot across the room. 

Del Mar blazed at it, firing every chamber of his revolver, thenswitched on the lights. 

No one was in the room. But the door was open. Del Mar gazedabout, vexed, then ran to the open door. 

For a second or two he peered out in rage, finally turning backinto the empty room. On the mantlepiece lay the torch of theintruder. It was one in which the connection is made by a ringfalling on a piece of metal. The ring had been left up by Arnold. Connection had been made as he was leaving the room by pulling thethread which he had fastened to the ring. Del Mar followed thethread as it led around the room to the doorway. 

"Curse him!" swore Del Mar, smashing down the innocent torch onthe floor in fury, as he rushed to the desk and saw his papers alldisturbed. 

Outside, Arnold had made good his escape. He paused in themoonlight and listened. No one was pursuing. He drew out two orthree of the letters which he had taken from Del Mar's desk, andhastily ran through them. 

"Not a thing in them, " he exclaimed, tearing them up in disgustand hurrying away. 

At the first break of dawn the little alarm dock awakened Elaine. She started up and rubbed her eyes at the suddenness of theawakening, then quickly reached out and stopped the bell so thatit would not disturb others in the house. She jumped out of bedhurriedly and dressed. 

Armed with a spy glass, Elaine let herself out of the housequietly. Directly to the shore she went, walking along the beach. Suddenly she paused. There were three men. Before she could levelher glass at them, however, they disappeared. 

"That's strange, " she said to herself, looking through the glass. "There's a steamer at the dock that seems to be getting ready forsomething. I wonder what it can be doing so early. "

She moved along in the direction of the dock. At the dock thedisreputable steamer to which Del Mar had dispatched his emissarywas still tied, the sailors now working under the gruff orders ofthe rough captain. About a capstan were wound the turns of a longwire rope at the end of which was a three-pronged drag-hook. 

"You see, " the captain was explaining, "we'll lower this hook anddrag it along the bottom. When it catches anything we'll just pullit up. I have the location of the cable. It ought to be easy tograpple. "

Already, on the shore, at an old deserted shack of a fisherman, two of Del Mar's men had been waiting since before sun-up, havingcome in a dirty, dingy fishing smack anchored offshore. 

"Is everything ready?" asked Del Mar, coming up. 

"Everything, sir, " returned the two, following him along theshore. 

"Who's that?" cautioned one of the men, looking ahead. 

They hid hastily, for there was Elaine. She had seen the three andwas about to level her glass in their direction as they hid. Finally she turned and discovered the steamer. As she moved towardit, Del Mar and the others came out from behind a rock and stoleafter her. 

Elaine wandered on until she came to the dock. No one paid anyattention to her, apparently, and she made her way along the dockand even aboard the boat without being observed. 

No sooner had she got on the boat, however, than Del Mar and hismen appeared on the dock and also boarded the steamer. 

The captain was still explaining to the men just how the drag-hookworked when Elaine came up quietly on the deck. She stoodspellbound as she heard him outline the details of the plot. Scarcely knowing what she did, she crouched back of a deckhouseand listened. 

Behind her, Del Mar and his men came along, cat-like. A glance wassufficient to tell them that she had overheard what the captainwas saying. 

"Confound that girl!" ground out Del Mar. "Will she always crossmy path? We'll get her this time!"

The men scattered as he directed them. Sneaking up quietly, theymade a sudden rush and seized her. As she struggled and screamed, they dragged her off. Thrusting her into the captain's cabin andlocking the door. 

"Cast off!" ordered Del Mar. 

A few moments later, out in the harbor, Del Mar was busy directingthe dragging for the Atlantic cable at a spot where it was knownto run. They let the drag-hook down over the side and pulled italong slowly on the bottom. 

In the cabin, Elaine beat on the door and shouted in vain forhelp. 

I had decided to do some early morning fishing the day after theparty, and knowing that Elaine and the others were usually laterisers, I said nothing about it, determined to try my luck alone. 

So it happened that only a few minutes after Elaine let herselfout quietly, I did the same, carrying my fishing-tackle. I made myway toward the shore, undecided whether to fish from a dock orboat. Finally I determined to do some casting from the shore. 

I had cast once or twice before I was aware that I was not alonein the immediate neighborhood. Some distance away I saw a littlesteamer at a wharf. A couple of men ran along the deck, apparentlycautioning the captain against something. 

Then I saw them run to one side and drag out a girl, screaming andstruggling as they hurried her below. I could scarcely believe myeyes. It was Elaine!

Only a second I looked. They were certainly too many for me. Idropped my rod and line and ran toward the dock, however. As Icame down it, I saw that I was too late. The little steamer hadcast off and was now some distance from the dock. I looked aboutfor a motor-boat in desperation--anything to follow them in. Butthere was nothing, absolutely nothing, not even a rowboat. 

I ran back along the dock as I had come and struck out down theshore. 

 . . . . . . . 

Out at the parade grounds at Fort Dale, in spite of the earlyhour, there was some activity, for the army is composed of earlyrisers. 

Lieutenant Woodward and Professor Arnold left the house in whichthe Lieutenant was quartered, where he had invited Arnold to spendthe night. Already an orderly had brought around two horses. Theymounted for an early morning ride through the country. 

Off they clattered, naturally bending their course toward theshore. They came soon to a point in the road where it emerged fromthe hills and gave them a panoramic view of the harbor and sound. 

"Wait a minute, " called the professor. 

Woodward reined up and they gazed off over the water. 

"What's that--an oyster boat?" asked Woodward, looking in thedirection Arnold indicated. 

"I don't think so, so early, " replied Arnold, pulling out hispocket glass and looking carefully. 

Through it he could see that something like a hook was being castover the steamer's side and drawn back again. 

"They're dragging for something, " he remarked as they brought upan object dark and covered with seagrowth, then threw it overboardas though it was not what they wanted. "By George--the Atlanticcable lands here--they're going to cut it!"

Woodward took the glasses himself and looked in in surprise. "That's right, " he cried, his surprise changed to alarm in aninstant. "Here, take the glass again and watch. I must get back tothe Fort. "

He swung his horse about and galloped off, leaving Arnold sittingin the saddle gazing at the strange boat through his glass. 

By the time Woodward reached the parade ground again, a field-gunand its company were at drill. He dashed furiously across thefield. 

"What's the trouble?" demanded the officer in charge of the gun. 

Woodward blurted out what he had just seen. "We must stop it--atany cost, " he added, breathlessly. 

The officer turned to the company. A moment later the order tofollow Woodward rang out, the horses were wheeled about, and offthe party galloped. On they went, along the road which Woodwardand Arnold had already traversed. 

Arnold was still gazing, impatiently now, through the glass. Hecould see the fore-deck of the ship where Del Mar, muffled up, andhis men had succeeded in dragging the cable to the proper positionon the deck. They laid it down and Del Mar was directing thepreparations for cutting it. Arnold lowered his glass and lookedabout helplessly. 

Just then Lieutenant Woodward dashed up with the officer andcompany and the field-gun. They wheeled it about and beganpointing it and finding the range. 

Would they never get it? Arnold was almost beside himself. One ofDel Mar's men seized an axe and was about to deliver the fatalblow. He swung it and for a moment held it poised over his head. 

Suddenly a low, deep rumble of a reverberation echoed and reechoedfrom the hills over the water. The field-gun had belloweddefiance. 

A solid shot crashed through the cabin, smashing the door. Astounded, the men jumped back. As they did so, in their fear, thecable, released, slipped back over the rail in a great splash ofsafety into the water and sank. 

"The deuce take you--you fools, " swore Del Mar, springing forwardin rage, and looking furiously toward the shore. 

Two of the men had been hit by splinters. It was impossible todrag again. Besides, again the gun crew loaded and fired. 

The first shot had dismantled the doorway of the cabin. Elainecrouched fearfully in the furthest corner, not knowing what toexpect next. Suddenly another shot tore through just beside thedoor, smashing the woodwork terrifically. She shrank back further, in fright. 

Anything was better than this hidden terror. Nerved up, she ranthrough the broken door. 

Arnold was gazing through his glass at the effect of the shots. Hecould now see Del Mar and the others leaping into a swift littlemotor-boat alongside the steamer which they had been using to helpthem in dragging for the cable. 

Just then he saw Elaine run, screaming, out from the cabin andleap overboard. 

"Stop!" shouted Arnold in a fever of excitement, lowering hisglass. "There's a girl--by Jove--it's Miss Dodge!"

"Impossible!" exclaimed Woodward. 

"I tell you, it is, " reiterated Arnold, thrusting the glass intothe Lieutenant's hand. 

The motor-boat had started when Del Mar saw Elaine in the water. "Look, " he growled, pointing, "There's the Dodge girl. "

Elaine was swimming frantically away from the boat. "Get her, " heordered, shielding his face so that she could not see it. 

They turned the boat and headed toward her. She struck out harderthan ever for the shore. On came the motor-boat. 

Arnold and Woodward looked at each other in despair. What couldthey do?

 . . . . . . . 

Somehow, by a sort of instinct, I suppose, I made my way asquickly as I could along the shore toward Fort Dale, thinkingperhaps of Lieutenant Woodward. 

As I came upon the part of the grounds of the Fort that slopeddown to the beach, I saw a group of young officers standing abouta peculiar affair on the shore in the shallow water--half bird, half boat. 

As I came closer, I recognized it as a Thomas hydroaeroplane. 

It suggested an idea and I hurried, shouting. 

One of the men, seated in it, was evidently explaining its workingto the others. 

"Wait, " he said, as he saw me running down the shore, waving andshouting at them. "Let's see what this fellow wants. "

It was, as I soon learned, the famous Captain Burnside, of theUnited States Aerial Corps. Breathless, I told him what I had seenand that we were all friends of Woodward's. 

Burnside thought a moment, and quickly made up his mind. 

"Come--quick--jump up here with me, " he called. Then to the othermen, "I'll be back soon. Wait here. Let her go!"

I had jumped up and they spun the propeller. The hydroaeroplanefeathered along the water, throwing a cloud of white spray, thenslowly rose in the air. 

The sensation of flying was delightful, as the fresh morning windcut our faces. We seemed to be hardly moving. It was the earth orrather the water that rushed past under us. But I forgot all aboutmy sensations in my anxiety for Elaine. 

As we rose we could see over the curve in the shore. 

"Look!" I exclaimed, straining my eyes. "She's overboard. There'sa motor-boat after her. Faster--over that way!"

"Yes, yes, " shouted Burnside above the roar of the engine whichalmost made conversation impossible. 

He shifted the planes a bit and crowded on more speed. 

The men in the boat saw us. One figure, tall, muffled, had afamiliar look, but I could not place it and in the excitement ofthe chase had no chance to try. But I could see that he saw us andwas angry. Apparently the man gave orders to turn, for the boatswung around just as we swooped down and ran along the water. 

Elaine was exhausted. Would we be in time?

We planed along the water, while the motor-boat sped off with itsbaffled passengers. Finally we stopped, in a cloud of spray. 

Together, Burnside and I reached down and caught Elaine, not amoment too soon, dragging her into the boat of the hydroaeroplane. 

If we had not had all we could do, we might have heard a shout ofencouragement and relief from the hill where Woodward and Arnoldand the rest were watching anxiously. 

I threw my coat about her, as the brave girl heroically clung tous, half conscious. 

"Oh--Walter, " she murmured, "you were just in time. "

"I wish I could have been sooner, " I apologized. 

"They--they didn't cut the cable--did they?" she asked, as we rosefrom the water again, bearing her now to safety. "I did my best. "

CHAPTER XI

THE WIRELESS DETECTIVE

Del Mar made his way cautiously along the bank of a little riverat the mouth of which he left the boat after escaping from thelittle steamer. 

Quite evidently he was worried by the failure to cut the greatAtlantic cable and he was eager to see whether any leak hadoccurred in the organization which, as secret foreign agent, hehad so carefully built up in America. 

As he skirted the shore of the river, he came to a falls. Here hemoved even more cautiously than before, looking about to makecertain that no one had followed him. 

It was a beautiful sheet of water that tumbled with a roar overthe ledge of rock, then raced away swiftly to the sea in a cloudof spray. 

Assured that he was alone, he approached a crevice in the rocks, near the falls. With another hasty look about, he reached in andpulled a lever. 

Instantly a most marvellous change took place, incredible almostbeyond belief. The volume of water that came over the fallsactually and rapidly decreased until it almost stopped, drippingslowly in a thin veil. There was the entrance of a cave--literallyhidden behind the falls!

Del Mar walked in. Inside was the entrance to another, inner cave, higher up in the sheer stone of the wall that the waters haderoded. From the floor to this entrance led a ladder. Del Marclimbed it, then stopped just inside the entrance to the innercave. For a moment he paused. Then he pressed another lever. Almost immediately the thin trickle of water grew until at lastthe roaring falls completely covered the cave entrance. It was aclever concealment, contrived by damming the river above andarranging a new outlet controlled by flood-gates. 

There Del Mar stood, in the inner cave. A man sat at a table, acurious gear fastened over his head and covering his ears. Beforehim was a huge apparatus from which flared a big bluish-greenspark, snapping and crackling above the thunder of the waves. Fromthe apparatus ran wires apparently up through cables thatpenetrated the rocky roof of the cavern and the river above. 

It was Del Mar's secret wireless station, close to the hiddensubmarine harbor which had been established beneath the innocentrocks of the promontory up the coast. Far overhead, on the cliffover the falls, were the antennae of the wireless. 

"How is she working?" asked Del Mar. 

"Pretty well, " answered the man. 

"No interference?" queried Del Mar, adjusting the apparatus. 

The man shook his head in the negative. 

"We must get a quenched spark apparatus, " went on Del Mar, pleasedthat nothing was wrong here. "This rotary gap affair is out ofdate. By the way, I want you to be ready to send a message, to berelayed across to our people. I've got to consult the board belowin the harbor, first, however. I'll send a messenger to you. "

"Very well, sir, " returned the man, saluting as Del Mar went out. 

Out at Fort Dale, Lieutenant Woodward was still entertaining hisnew friend, Professor Arnold, and had introduced him to ColonelSwift, the commanding officer at the Fort. 

They were discussing the strange events of the early morning, whenan orderly entered, saluted Colonel Swift and handed him atelegram. The Colonel tore it open and read it, his face growinggrave. Then he handed it to Woodward, who read:

WASHINGTON, D. C. 

Radio station using illegal wave length in your vicinity. Investigate and report. 

BRANDON, Radio Bureau. 

Professor Arnold shook his head slowly, as he handed the telegramback. "There's a wireless apparatus of my own on my yacht, " heremarked slowly. "I have an instrument there which I think canhelp you greatly. Let's see what we can do. "

"All right, " nodded Colonel Swift to Woodward. "Try. "

The two went out and a few minutes later, on the shore, jumpedinto Arnold's fast little motor-boat and sped out across the wateruntil they swung around alongside the trim yacht which Arnold wasusing. 

It was a compact and comfortable little craft with lines thatindicated both gracefulness and speed. On one of the masts, asthey approached, Woodward noticed the wireless aerial. Theyclimbed up the ladder over the side and made their way directly tothe wireless room, where Arnold sat down and at once began toadjust the apparatus. 

Woodward seemed keenly interested in inspecting the plant whichwas of a curious type and not exactly like any that he had seenbefore. 

"Wireless apparatus, " explained Arnold, still at work, "as youknow, is divided into three parts, the source of power, the makingand sending of wireless waves, including the key, spark, condenserand tuning coil, and the receiving apparatus--head telephones, antennae, ground and detector. This is a very compact system withfacilities for a quick change from one wave length to another. Ithas a spark gap, quenched type, break system relay--operator canhear any interference while transmitting--transformation by asingle throw of a six-point switch which tunes the oscillating andopen circuits to resonance. "

Woodward watched him keenly, following his explanation carefully, as Arnold concluded. 

"You might call it a radio detective, " he added. 

Even the startling experience of the morning when she was carriedoff and finally jumped from the little tramp steamer that hadattempted to cut the cable did not dampen Elaine's ardor. Shemissed the guiding hand of Kennedy, yet felt impelled to follow upand investigate the strange things that had been happening in theneighborhood of her summer home since his disappearance. 

I succeeded in getting her safely home after Burnside and Irescued her in the hydroaeroplane, but no sooner had she changedher clothes for dry ones than she disappeared herself. At least Icould not find her, though, later, I found that she had stolenaway to town and there had purchased a complete outfit of men'sclothes from a second hand dealer. 

Cautiously, with the large bundle under her arm, she returned toDodge Hall and almost sneaked into her own home and up-stairs toher room. She locked the door and hastily unwrapped the bundletaking out a tattered suit and the other things, holding them upand laughing gleefully as she took off her own pretty clothes anddonned these hideous garments. 

Quickly she completed her change of costume and outward character. As she surveyed herself in the dainty mirror of her dressing-tableshe laughed again at the incongruity of her pretty boudoir and therough men's clothes she was wearing. Deftly she arranged her hairso that her hat would cover it. She picked a black mustache fromthe table and stuck it on her soft upper lip. It tickled and shemade a wry face over it. Then she hunted up a cigarette from thebundle which she had brought in, lighted it and stuck it in thecorner of her mouth, letting it droop jauntily. It made her coughtremendously and she threw it away. 

Finally she went to the door and down-stairs. No one was about. She opened the door and gazed around. All was quiet. It was a newrole for her, but, with a bold front, she went out and passed downto the gate of the grounds, pulling her hat down over her eyes andassuming a tough swagger. 

Only a few minutes before, down in the submarine harbor, theofficers of the board of foreign agents had been grouped about DelMar, who had entered and taken his place at their head, very angryover the failure to cut the cable. As they concluded their hastyconference, he wrote a message on a slip of paper. 

"Take this to our wireless station, " he ordered, handing it to oneof the men. 

The man took it, rose, and went to a wardrobe from which heextracted one of the submarine suits. With the message in hishand, he went out of the room, buckling on the suit. 

A few minutes later the messenger in the submarine suit bobbed upout of the water, near the promontory, and climbed slowly over therocks toward a crevice, where he began to take off the divingoutfit. 

Having finished, he hid the suit among the rocks and then wentalong to the little river, carefully skirting its banks into theravine in which were the falls and the wireless cave. 

In her disguise, Elaine had made her way by a sort of instinctalong the shore to the rocky promontory where we had discoveredthe message in the tin tube in the water. 

Something, she knew not what, was going on about there, and shereasoned that it was not all over yet. She was right. As shelooked about keenly she did see something, and she hid among therocks. It was a man, all dripping, in an outlandish helmet andsuit. 

She saw him slink into a crevice and take off the suit, then, ashe moved toward the river ravine, she stole up after him. 

Suddenly she stopped stark still, surprised, and stared. 

The man had actually gone up to the very waterfall. He had pressedwhat looked like a lever and the water over the falls seemed tostop. Then he walked directly through into a cave. 

In the greatest wonder, Elaine crept along toward the falls. Inside the cave Del Mar's emissary started to climb a ladder to aninner cave. As he reached the top, he glanced out and saw Elaineby the entrance. With an oath he jumped into the inner entrance. His hand reached eagerly for a lever in the rocks and as he foundand held it, he peered out carefully. 

Elaine cautiously came from behind a rock where she had hiddenherself and seeing no one apparently watching, now, advanced untilshe stood directly under the trickle of water which had once beenthe falls. She gazed into the cave, curiously uncertain whethershe dared to go in alone or not. 

The emissary jerked fiercely at the lever as he saw Elaine. 

Above the falls a dam had been built and by a system of levers thegates could be operated so that the water could be thrown over thefalls or diverted away, at will. As the man pressed the lever, theflood gates worked quickly. 

Elaine stood gazing eagerly into the blackness of the cave. Justthen a great volume of water from above crashed down on her, withalmost crushing weight. 

How she lived through it she never knew. But, fortunately, she hadnot gone quite far enough to get the full force of the water. Still, the terrific flood easily overcame her. 

She was swept, screaming, down the stream. 

 . . . . . . . 

Rather alarmed at the strange disappearance of Elaine after Ibrought her home, I had started out along the road to the shore tolook for her, thinking that she might perhaps have returned there. 

As I walked along a young tough--at least at the time I thought itwas a young tough, so good was the disguise she had assumed and sowell did she carry it off--slouched past me. 

What such a character could be doing in the neighborhood I couldnot see. But he was so noticeably tough that I turned and looked. He kept his eyes averted as if afraid of being recognized. 

"Great Caesar, " I muttered to myself, "that's a roughneck. Thisplace is sure getting to be a hang-out for gunmen. "

I shrugged my shoulders and continued my walk. It was no businessof mine. Finding no trace of Elaine, I returned to the house. AuntJosephine was in the library, alone. 

"Where's Elaine?" I asked anxiously. 

"I don't know, " she replied. "I don't think she's at home. " "Well, I can't find her anywhere, " I frowned wandering out at a loss whatto do, and thrusting my hands deep in my pockets as an aid tothought. 

Somehow, I felt, I didn't seem to get on well as a detectivewithout Kennedy. Yet, so far, a kind providence seemed to havewatched over us. Was it because we were children--or--I rejectedthat alternative. 

Walking along leisurely I made my way down to the shore. At abridge that crossed a rather turbulent stream as it tumbled itsway toward the sea, I paused and looked at the water reflectively. 

Suddenly my vagrant interest was aroused. Up the stream I saw someone struggling in the water and shouting for help as the currentcarried her along, screaming. 

It was Elaine. The hat and mustache of her disguise were gone andher beautiful Titian hair was spread out on the water as itcarried her now this way, now that, while she struck out with allher strength to keep afloat. I did not stop to think how or whyshe was there. I swung over the bridge rail, stripping off mycoat, ready to dive. On she came with the swift current to thebridge. As she approached I dived. It was not a minute too soon. In her struggles she had become thoroughly exhausted. She was agood swimmer but the fight with nature was unequal. 

I reached her in a second or so and took her hand. Half pulling, half shoving her, I struck out for the shore. We managed to makeit together where the current was not quite so strong and climbedsafely up a rock. 

Elaine sank down, choking and gasping, not unconscious but prettymuch all in and exhausted. I looked at her in amazement. She wasthe tough character I had just seen. 

"Why, where in the world did you get those togs?" I queried. 

"Never mind my clothes, Walter, " she gasped. "Take me home forsome dry ones. I have a clue. "

She rose, determined to shake off the effects of her recent plungeand went toward the house. As I helped her she relatedbreathlessly what she has just seen. 

Meanwhile, back of that wall of water, the wireless operator inthe cave was sending the messages which Del Mar's emissarydictated to him, one after another. 

 . . . . . . . 

With the high resistance receiving apparatus over his head, Arnoldwas listening to the wireless signals that came over his "radiodetective" on the yacht, moving the slider back and forth on asort of tuning coil, as he listened. Woodward stood close besidehim. 

"As you know, " Arnold remarked, "by the use of an aerial, messagesmay be easily received from any number of stations. Laws, rules, and regulations may be adopted by the government to shut outinterlopers and to plug busybody ears, but the greater part ofwhatever is transmitted by the Hertzian waves can be snatched downby this wireless detective of mine. Here I can sit in my wirelessroom with this ear-phone clamped over my head drinking in news, plucking the secrets of others from the sky--in other words, thisis eavesdropping by a wireless wire-tapper. "

"Are you getting anything now?" asked Woodward. 

Arnold nodded, as he seized a pencil and started to write. Thelieutenant bent forward in tense interest. Finally Arnold readwhat he had written and with a peculiar, quiet smile handed itover. Woodward read. It was a senseless jumble of dots and dashesof the Morse code but, although he was familiar with the code, hecould make nothing out of it. 

"It's the Morse code all right, " he said, handing it back with apuzzled look, "but it doesn't make any sense. "

Arnold smiled again, took the paper, and without a word wrote onit some more. Then he handed it back to Woodward. "An old trick, "he said. "Reverse the dots and dashes and see what you get. "

Woodward looked at it, as Arnold had reversed it and his facelighted up. 

"Harbor successfully mined, " he quoted in surprise. 

"I'll show you another thing about this radio detective of mine, "went on Arnold energetically. "It's not only a wave lengthmeasurer, but by a process of my own I can determine approximatelythe distance between the sending and the receiving points of amessage. "

He attached another, smaller machine to the wireless detector. Inthe face was a moving finger which swung over a dial marked off inmiles from one upward. As Arnold adjusted the new detector, thehand began to move slowly. Woodward looked eagerly. It did notmove far, but came to rest above the figure "2. "

"Not so very far away, you see, Lieutenant, " remarked Arnold, pointing at the dial face. 

He seized his glass and hurried to the deck, levelling it at theshore, leaning far over the rail in his eagerness. As he swept theshore, he stopped suddenly. There was a house-roof among the treeswith a wireless aerial fastened to the chimney, but not quiteconcealed by the dense foliage. 

"Look, " he cried to Woodward, with an exclamation of satisfaction, handing over the glass. 

Woodward looked. "A secret wireless station, all right, " heagreed, lowering the glass after a long look. 

"We'd better get over there right away, " planned Arnold, leadingthe way to the ladder over the side of the yacht and calling tothe sailor who had managed the little motor-boat to follow him. 

Quickly they skimmed across to the shore. "I think we'd bettersend to the Fort for some men, " considered Arnold as they landed. "We may need reinforcements before we get through. "

Woodward nodded and Arnold hastily wrote a note on a rather largescrap of paper which he happened to have in his pocket. 

"Take this to Colonel Swift at Fort Dale, " he directed the sailor. "And hurry!"

The sailor loped off, half on a run, as Arnold and Woodward leftdown the shore, proceeding carefully. 

At top speed, Arnold's sailor made his way to Fort Dale and wasdirected by the sentry to Colonel Swift who was standing beforethe headquarters with several officers. 

"A message from Lieutenant Woodward and Professor Arnold, " heannounced, approaching the commanding officer and handing him thenote. Colonel Swift tore it open and read:

Have located radio aerial in the woods along shore. Please sendsquad of men with bearer. --ARNOLD. 

"You just left them?" queried the Colonel. 

"Yes sir, " replied the sailor. "We came ashore in his boat. Idon't know exactly where they went but I know the direction and wecan catch up with them easily if we hurry, sir. "

The colonel handed the note quickly to a cavalry officer besidehim who read it, saluted at the orders that followed, turned andstrode off, hastily stuffing the paper in his belt, as the sailorwent, too. 

Meanwhile, Del Mar's valet was leaving the bungalow and walkingdown the road on an errand for his master. Up the road he heardthe clatter of hoofs. He stepped back off the road and from hiscovert he could see a squad of cavalry headed by the captain and asailor cantering past. 

The captain turned in the saddle to speak to the sailor, who rodelike a horse marine, and as he did so, the turning of his bodyloosened a paper which he had stuffed quickly into his belt. Itfell to the ground. In their hurry the troop, close behind, rodeover it. But it did not escape the quick eye of Del Mar's valet. 

They had scarcely disappeared around a bend in the road when hestepped out and pounced on the paper, reading it eagerly. Everyline of his face showed fear as he turned and ran back to thebungalow. 

"See what I found, " he cried breathlessly bursting in on Del Marwho was seated at his desk, having returned from the harbor. 

Del Mar read it with a scowl of fury. Then he seized his hat, anda short hunter's axe, and disappeared through the panel into thesubterranean passage which took him by the shortest cut throughthe very hill to the shore. 

Slowly Arnold and Woodward made their way along the shore, carefully searching for the spot where they had seen the housewith the aerial. At last they came to a place where they could seethe deserted house, far up on the side of a ravine above a riverand a waterfalls. They dived into the thick underbrush for coverand went up the hill. 

Some distance off from the house, they parted the bushes and gazedoff across an open space at the ramshackle building. As theylooked they could see a man hurry across from the oppositedirection and into the house. 

"As I live, I think that's Del Mar, " muttered Arnold. 

Woodward nodded, doubtfully, though. 

In the house, Del Mar hurried to a wall where he found and presseda concealed spring. A small cabinet in the plaster opened and hetook out a little telephone which he rang and through which hespoke hastily. "Pull in the wires, " he shouted. "We're discovered, I think. "

Down in the wireless station in the cave, the operator at hisinstrument heard the signal of the telephone and quickly answeredit. "All right, sir, " he returned with a look of great excitementand anxiety. "Cut the wires and I'll pull them in. "

Putting back the telephone, Del Mar ran to the window and lookedout between the broken slats of the closed blinds. "Confoundthem!" he muttered angrily. 

He could see Arnold and Woodward cautiously approaching. A momentlater he stepped back and pulled a silk mask over his upper face, leaving only his eyes visible. Then he seized his hunter's axe anddashed up the stairs. Through the scuttle of the roof he came, making his way over to the chimney to which the wireless antennaewere fastened. 

Hastily he cut the wires which ran through the roof from theaerial. As he did so he saw them disappear through the roof. Below, in the cave, down in the ravine back of the falls, theoperator was hastily hauling in the wire Del Mar had cut. 

Viciously next, Del Mar fell upon the wooden aerial itself, chopping it right and left with powerful blows. He broke it offand threw it over the roof. 

Below, Arnold and Woodward, taking advantage of every tree andshrub for concealment, had almost reached the house when thebroken aerial fell with a bang almost on them. In surprise theydropped back of a tree and looked up. But from their position theycould see nothing. Together they drew their guns and advanced morecautiously at the house. 

Del Mar made his way back quickly over the roof, back through thescuttle and down the stairs again. Should he go out? He looked outof the window. Then he went to the door. An instant he pausedthinking and listening, his axe raised, ready for a blow. 

Arnold and Woodward, by this time, had reached the door whichswung open on its rusty hinges. Woodward was about to go in whenhe felt a hand on his arm. 

"Wait, " cautioned Arnold. He took off his hat and jammed it on theend of a stick. Slowly he shoved the door open, then thrust thehat and stick just a fraction of a foot forward. 

Del Mar, waiting, alert, saw the door open and a hat. He struck atit hard with the axe and merely the hat and stick fell to thefloor. 

"Now, come on, " shouted Arnold to Woodward. 

In the other hand, Del Mar held a chair. As Woodward dashed inwith Arnold beside him, Del Mar shied the chair at their feet. Woodward fell over it in a heap and as he did so the delay was allthat Del Mar had hoped to gain. Without a second's hesitation hedived through an open window, just as Arnold ran forward, avoidingWoodward and the chair. It was spectacular, but it worked. Arnoldfired, but even that was not quick enough. He turned and withWoodward who had picked himself up in spite of his barked shinsand they ran back through the door by which they had entered. 

Recovering himself, Del Mar dashed for the woods just as Arnoldand Woodward ran around the side of the house, still blazing awayafter him, as they followed, rapidly gaining. 

Elaine changed her clothes quickly. Meanwhile she had orderedhorses for both of us and a groom brought them around from thestables. It took me only a short time to jump into some dry thingsand I waited impatiently. 

She was ready very soon, however, and we mounted and cantered off, again in the direction of the shore where she had seen theremarkable waterfall, of which she had told me. 

We had not gone far when we heard sounds, as if an army werebearing down on us. "What's that?" I asked. 

Elaine turned and looked. It was a squad of cavalry. 

"Why, it's Lieutenant Woodward's friend, Captain Price, " sheexclaimed, waving to the captain at the head of the squad. 

A moment later Captain Price pulled up and bowed. Quickly we toldhim of what Elaine had just discovered. 

"That's strange, " he said. "This man--" indicating the sailor--"has just told me that Lieutenant Woodward and Professor Arnoldare investigating a wireless outfit over near there. Perhapsthere's some connection. "

"May we join you?" she asked. 

"By all means, " he returned. "I was about to suggest it myself. "

We fell in behind with the rest and were off again. 

Under the direction of the sailor we came at last to the ravinewhere we looked about searchingly for some trace of Arnold andWoodward. 

"What's that noise?" exclaimed one of the cavalrymen. 

We could hear shots, above us. 

"They may need us, " cried Elaine, impatiently. 

It was impossible to ride up the sheer height above. 

"Dismount, " ordered Captain Price. 

His men jumped down and we followed him. Elaine struggled up, nowhelped by me, now helping me. 

Further down the hill from the deserted house which we could seeabove us at the top was an underground passage which had beenbuilt to divert part of the water above the falls for power. Through it the water surged and over this boiling stream ran aboard walk, the length of the tunnel. 

Into this tunnel we could see that a masked man had made his way. As he did so, he turned for just a moment and fired a volley ofshots. 

Elaine screamed. There were Arnold and Woodward, his targets, coming on boldly, as yet unhit. They rushed in after him, in spiteof his running fire, returning his shots and darting toward thetunnel entrance through which he still blazed back at them. 

From our end of the ravine, we could see precisely what was goingon. "Come--the other end of the tunnel, " shouted Price, who hadevidently been over the ground and knew it. 

We made our way quickly to it and it seemed as if we had our mantrapped, like a rat in a hole. 

In the tunnel the man was firing back at his pursuers as he ranalong the board walk for our end. He looked up just in time as heapproached us. There he could see Price and his cavalry waiting, cutting off retreat. We were too many for him. He turned and tooka step back. There were Arnold and Woodward with levelled gunspeering in as though they could not see very clearly. In a momenttheir eyes would become accustomed as his to the darkness. Whatshould he do? There was not a second to waste. He looked down atthe planks beneath him and the black water slipping past on itsway to the power station. It was a desperate chance. But it wasall that was left. He dropped down and let himself without even asplash into the water. 

Arnold and Woodward took a step into the darkness, scarcelyknowing what to expect, their eyes a bit better accustomed to thedusk. But if they had been there an hour, in all probability theycould not have seen what was at their very feet. 

Del Mar had sunk and was swimming under water in the swift blackcurrent sweeping under them. As they entered, he passed out, nerved up to desperation. 

Down the stream, just before it took its final plunge to the powerwheel, Del Mar managed by a superhuman effort to reach out andgrasp a wooden support of the flooring again and pull himself outof the stream. Smiling grimly to himself, he hurried up the bank. 

"Some one's coming, " whispered Price. "Get ready. "

We levelled our guns. I was about to fire. 

"Look out! Don't shoot!" warned a voice sharply. It was Elaine. Her keen eyes and quick perception had recognized Arnold, leadingWoodward. We lowered our guns. 

"Did you see a man, masked, come out here?" cried Woodward. 

"No--he must have gone your way, " we called. 

"No, he couldn't. "

Arnold was eagerly questioning the captain as Elaine and Iapproached. "Dropped into the water--risked almost certain death, "he muttered, half turning and seeing us. 

"I want to congratulate you on your nerve for going in there, "began Elaine, advancing toward the professor. 

Apparently he neither heard nor saw us, for he turned as soon ashe had finished with Price and went into the cave as though hewere too busy to pay any attention to anything else. 

Elaine looked up at me, in blank astonishment. 

"What an impolite man, " she murmured, gazing at the figure allstooped over as it disappeared in the darkness of the tunnel. 

CHAPTER XII

THE DEATH CLOUD

Off a lonely wharf in a deserted part of the coast some miles fromthe promontory which afforded Del Mar his secret submarine harbor, a ship was riding at anchor. 

On the wharf a group of men, husky lascars, were straining theireyes at the mysterious craft. 

"Here she comes, " muttered one of the men, "at last. "

From the ship a large yawl had put out. As she approached thewharf it could be seen that she was loaded to the gunwales withcases and boxes. She drew up close to the wharf and the men fellto unloading her, lifting up the boxes as though they wereweighted with feathers instead of metal and explosives. 

Down the shore, at the same time, behind a huge rock, crouched arough looking tramp. His interest in the yawl and its cargo waseven keener than that of the lascars. 

"Supplies, " he muttered, moving back cautiously and up the bluff. "I wonder where they are taking them?"

Marcus Del Mar had chosen an old and ruined hotel not far from theshore as his storehouse and arsenal. Already he was there, pacingup and down the rotted veranda which shook under his weight. 

"Come, hurry up, " he called impatiently as the first of the mencarrying a huge box on his back made his appearance up the hill. 

One after another they trooped in and Del Mar led them to thehotel, unlocking the door. 

Inside, the old hostelry was quite as ramshackle as outside. Whathad once been the dining-room now held nothing but a long, ricketytable and several chairs. 

"Put them there, " ordered Del Mar, directing the disposal of thecases. "Then you can begin work. I shall be back soon. "

He went out and as he did so, two men seized guns from a cornernear-by and followed him. On the veranda he paused and turned tothe men. 

"If any one approaches the house--any one, you understand--makehim a prisoner and send for me, " he ordered. "If he resists, shoot. "

"Yes, sir, " they replied, moving over and stationing themselvesone at each angle of the narrow paths that ran before the oldhouse. 

Del Mar turned and plunged deliberately into the bushes, as if fora cross country walk, unobserved. 

Meanwhile, by another path up the bluff, the tramp had made hisway parallel to the line taken by the men. He paused at the top ofthe bluff where some bushes overhung and parted them. 

"Their headquarters, " he remarked to himself, under his breath. 

 Elaine, Aunt Josephine and I were on the lawn that forenoon whena groom in resplendent livery came up to us. 

"Miss Elaine Dodge?" he bowed. 

Elaine took the note he offered and he departed with another bow. 

"Oh, isn't that delightful, " she cried with pleasure, handing thenote to me. 

I read it: "The Wilkeshire Country Club will be honored if MissDodge and her friends will join the paper chase this afternoon. L. H. Brown, Secretary. "

"I suppose a preparation for the fox or drag hunting season?" Iqueried. 

"Yes, " she replied. "Will you go?"

"I don't ride very well, " I answered, "but I'll go. "

"Oh, and here's Mr. Del Mar, " she added, turning. "You'll join usat the Wilkeshire hunt in a paper chase this afternoon, surely, Mr. Del Mar?"

"Charmed, I'm sure, " he agreed gracefully. 

For several minutes we chatted, planning, then he withdrew. "Ishall meet you on the way to the Club, " he promised. 

It was not long before Elaine was ready, and from the stable agroom led three of the best trained cross-country horses in theneighborhood, for old Taylor Dodge, Elaine's father, had beenpassionately fond of hunting, as had been both Elaine and AuntJosephine. 

We met on the porch and a few minutes later mounted and canteredaway. On the road Del Mar joined us and we galloped along to theHunt Club, careful, however, to save the horses as much aspossible for the dash over the fields. 

 . . . . . . . 

For some time the uncouth tramp continued gazing fixedly out ofthe bushes at the deserted hotel. 

Suddenly, he heard a noise and dropped flat on the ground, lookingkeenly about. Through the trees he could see one of Del Mar's menstationed on sentry duty. He was leaning against a tree, on thealert. 

The tramp rose cautiously and moved off in another direction tothat in which he had been making his way, endeavoring to flank thesentry. Further along, however, another of Del Mar's men wasstanding in the same attentive manner near a path that led fromthe woods. 

As the tramp approached, the sentry heard a crackle of the brushand stepped forward. Before the tramp knew it, he was covered by arifle from the sentry in an unexpected quarter. 

Any one but the sentry, with half an eye, might have seen that thefear he showed was cleverly feigned. He threw his hands above hishead even before he was ordered and in general was the mosttractable captive imaginable. The sentry blew a whistle, whereatthe other sentry ran in. 

"What shall we do with him, " asked the captor. 

"Master's orders to take any one to the rendezvous, " responded theother firmly, "and lock him up. "

Together they forced the tramp to march double quick toward theold hotel. One sentry dropped back at the door and the other drovethe tramp before him into the hotel, avoiding the big room on theside where the men were at work and forcing him up-stairs to theattic which had once been the servant's quarters. 

There was no window in the room and it was empty. The only lightcame in through a skylight in the roof. 

The sentry thrust the tramp into this room and tried a doorleading to the next room. It was locked. At the point of his gunthe sentry frisked the tramp for weapons, but found none. As hedid so the tramp trembled mightily. But no sooner had the sentrygone than the tramp smiled quietly to himself. He tried bothdoors. They were locked. Then he looked at the skylight andmeditated. 

Down below, although he did not know it, in the bare dining-roomwhich had been arranged into a sort of chemical laboratory, DelMar's men were engaged in manufacturing gas bombs much like thoseused in the war in Europe. Before them was a formidable array ofbottles and retorts. The containers for the bombs were large andvery brittle globes of hard rubber. As the men made the gas andforced it under tremendous pressure into tubes, they protectedthemselves by wearing goggles for the eyes and large masks ofcloth and saturated cotton over their mouths and noses. 

Satisfied with the safety of his captive, the sentry made his waydown-stairs and out again to report to Del Mar. 

At the bungalow, Del Mar's valet was setting the library in orderwhen he heard a signal in the secret passage. He pressed thebutton on the desk and opened the panel. From it the sentryentered. 

"Where is Mr. Del Mar?" he asked hurriedly, looking around. "We'vebeen followed to the headquarters by a tramp whom I've captured, and I don't know what to do with him. "

"He is not here, " answered the valet. "He has gone to the CountryClub. "

"Confound it, " returned the sentry, vexed at the enforced waste oftime. "Do you think you can reach him?"

"If I hurry, I may, " nodded the valet. 

"Then do so, " directed the sentry. 

He moved back into the panel and disappeared while the valetclosed it. A moment later he, too, picked up his hat and hurriedout. 

At the Wilkeshire Club a large number of hunters had arrived forthe imitation meet. Elaine, Aunt Josephine, Del Mar and myselfrode up and were greeted by them as the Master of Fox Houndsassembled us. Off a bit, a splendid pack of hounds was held by thehuntsman while they debated whether to hold a paper chase or totry a drag hunt. 

"You start your cross-country riding early, " commented Del Mar. 

"Yes, " answered Elaine. "You see we can hardly wait until autumnand the weather is so fine and cool, we feel that we ought to getinto trim during the summer. So we have paper chases and draghunts as soon as we can, mainly to please the younger set. "

The chase was just about to start, when the valet came up. Del Marcaught his eye and excused himself to us. What he said, we couldnot hear, but Del Mar frowned, nodded and dismissed him. 

Just then the horn sounded and we went off, dashing across theroad into a field in full chase after the hounds, taking thefences and settling down to a good half hour's run over the mostbeautiful country I have ever seen. 

The hounds had struck the trail, which of course, as was finallydecided, was nothing but that laid by an anise-seed bag draggedover the ground. It was none the less, in fact perhaps moreinteresting for that. 

The huntsman winded his horn and mirthful shouts of "Gone away!"sounded in imitation of a real hunt. The blast of the horn onceheard is never forgotten, thrilling the blood and urging one on. 

The M. F. H. Seemed to be everywhere at once, restraining thosewho were too eager and saving the hounds often from being riddendown by those new to the hunt who pressed them. 

Elaine was one of the foremost. Her hunter was one carefullytrained, and she knew all the tricks of the game. 

Somehow, I got separated, at first, from the rest and followed, until finally I caught up, and then kept behind one of the bestriders. 

Del Mar also got separated, but, as I afterward learned, byintention, for he deliberately rode out of the course at the firstopportunity he had and let Elaine and the rest of us pass withoutseeing him. 

Elaine's blood was up, but somehow, in spite of herself, she wentastray, for the hounds had distanced the fleetest riders and she, in an attempt at a short cut over the country which she thoughtshe knew so well, went a mile or so out of the way. 

She pulled up in a ravine and looked about. Intently she listened. There was no sign of the hunt. She was hot and tired and thirstyand, at a loss just to join the field again, she took this chanceto dismount and drink from a clear stream fed by mountain springs. 

As she did so, floating over the peaceful woodland air came thefaint strains of the huntsman's horn, far, far off. She lookedabout, straining her eyes and ears to catch the direction ofsound. Just then her horse caught the winding of the horn. Hisears went erect and without waiting he instantly galloped off, leaving her. Elaine called and ran after him, but it was too late. She stopped and looked dejectedly as he disappeared. Then she madeher way up the side of the ravine, slowly. 

On she climbed until, to her surprise, she came to the ruins of anold hotel. She remembered, as a child, when it had been famous asa health resort, but it was all changed now--a wreck. She lookedat it a moment, then, as she had nothing better to do, approachedit. 

She advanced toward a window of the dining-room and looked in. 

 . . . . . . . 

Del Mar waited only until the last straggler had passed. Then hedashed off as fast as his horse would carry him straight towardthe deserted hotel which served him as headquarters for thesupplies he was accumulating. As he rode up, one of his sentriesappeared, as if from nowhere, and, seeing who it was, saluted. 

"Here, take care of this horse, " ordered Del Mar, dismounting andturning the animal over to the man, who led him to the rear of thebuilding as Del Mar entered the front door, after giving a secretsignal. 

There were his men in goggles and masks at the work, which hisknock had interrupted. 

"Give me a mask before I enter the room, " he ordered of the manwho had answered his signal. 

The man handed the mask and goggles to him, as well as a coat, which he put on quickly. Then he entered the room and looked atthe rapid progress of the work. 

"Where's the prisoner?" asked Del Mar a moment later, satisfied atthe progress of his men. 

"In the attic room, " one of his lieutenants indicated. 

"I'd like to take a look at him, " added Del Mar, just about toturn and leave the room. 

As he did so, he happened to glance at one of the windows. There, peering through the broken shutters, was a face--a girl's face--Elaine!

"Just what I wanted guarded against, " he cried angrily, pointingat the window. "Now--get her!"

The men had sprung up at his alarm. They could all see her andwith one accord dashed for the door. Elaine sprang back and theyran as they saw that she was warned. In genuine fear now she tooran from the window. But it was too late. 

For just then the sentry who had taken Del Mar's horse came frombehind the building cutting off her retreat. He seized her just asthe other men ran out. Elaine stared. She could make nothing ofthem. Even Del Mar, in his goggles and breathing mask wasunrecognizable. 

"Take her inside, " he ordered disguising his voice. Then to thesentry he added, "Get on guard again and don't let any onethrough. "

Elaine was hustled into the big deserted hallway of the hotel, just as the tramp had been. 

"You may go back to work, " Del Mar signed to the other men, whowent on, leaving one short but athletic looking fellow with DelMar and Elaine. 

"Lock her up, Shorty, " ordered Del Mar, "and bring the otherprisoner to me down here. "

None too gently the man forced Elaine up-stairs ahead of him. 

 . . . . . . . 

In the attic, the tramp, pacing up and down, heard footstepsapproach on the stairs and enter the next room. 

Quickly he ran to the doorway and peered through the keyhole. There he could see Elaine and the small man enter. He locked thedoor to the hall, then quickly took a step toward the door intothe tramp's room. 

There was just time enough for the tramp to see his approach. Heran swiftly and softly over to the further corner and dropped downas if sound asleep. The key turned in the lock and the small manentered, careful to lock the door to Elaine's room. He moved overto where the tramp was feigning sleep. 

"Get up, " he growled, kicking him. 

The tramp sat up, yawning and rubbing his eyes. "Come now, bereasonable, " demanded the man. "Follow me. "

He started toward the door into the hall. He never reached it. Scarcely was his hand on the knob when the tramp seized him anddragged him to the floor. One hand on the man's throat and hisknees on his chest, the tramp tore off the breathing mask andgoggles. Already he had the man trussed up and gagged. 

Quickly the tramp undressed the man and left him in hisunderclothes, still struggling to get loose, as he took Shorty'sclothes, including the strange head-gear, and unlocked the doorinto the next room with the key he also took from him. 

Elaine was pacing anxiously up and down the little room into whichshe had been thrown, greatly frightened. 

Suddenly the door through which her captor had left openedhurriedly again. A most disreputable looking tramp entered andlocked the door again. Elaine started back in fear. 

He motioned to her to be quiet. "You'll never get out alive, " hewhispered, speaking rapidly and thickly, as though to disguise hisvoice. "Here--take these clothes. Do just as I say. Put them on. Put on the mask and goggles. Cover up your hair. It is your onlychance. "

He laid the clothes down and went out into the hallway. Outside helistened carefully at the head of the stairs and looked aboutexpecting momentarily to be discovered. 

Elaine understood only that suddenly a friend in need hadappeared. She changed her clothes quickly, finding fortunatelythat they fitted her pretty well. By pulling the hat over her hairand the goggles over her eyes and tying on the breathing mask, shemade a very presentable man. 

Cautiously she pushed open the door into the hallway. There wasthe tramp. "What shall I do?" she asked. 

"Don't talk, " he whispered close to her ear. "Go out--and if youmeet any one, just salute and walk past. "

"Yes--yes, I understand, " she nodded back, "and--thank you. "

He gave her no time to say more, even if it had been safe, butturned and locked the door of her room. 

Trying to keep the old stairway from creaking and betraying her, she went down. She managed to reach the lower hallway withoutseeing anybody or being discovered. Quietly she went to the doorand out. She had not gone far when she met an armed man, thesentry, who had been concealed in the shrubbery. 

"Who goes there?" he challenged. 

Elaine did not betray herself by speaking, but merely saluted andpassed on as fast as she could without exciting further suspicion. Nonplused, the man turned and watched her curiously as she movedaway down the path. 

"Where's HE going?" the sentry muttered, still staring. 

Elaine in her eagerness was not looking as carefully where she wasgoing as she was thinking about getting away in safety. Suddenlyan overhanging branch of a tree caught her hat and before she knewit pulled it off her head. There was no concealing her golden hairnow. 

"Stop!" shouted the sentry. 

Elaine did not pause, but dived into the bushes on the side of thepath, just as the man fired and ran forward, still shouting forher to halt. She ran as fast as she could, pulling off the gogglesand mask and looking back now and then in terror at her pursuerwho was rapidly gaining on her. 

Before she could catch herself she missed her footing and slippedover the edge of a gorge. Down she went, with a rush. It wasunfortunate, dangerous, but, after all, it was the only thing thatsaved her, at least for the time. Half falling, half sliding, scratching herself and tearing her clothes, she descended. 

The sentry checked himself just in time at the top of the gorgeand leaned as far over the edge as he dared. He raised his gunagain and fired. But Elaine's course was so hidden by the treesand so zigzag that he missed again. A moment he hesitated, thenstarted and climbed down after her as fast as he could. 

At the bottom of the hill she picked herself up and dashed againinto the woods, the sentry still after her and gaining again. 

At the same time, we who were still in the chase had circled aboutthe country until we were very near where we started. Followingthe dogs over a rail fence, I drew up suddenly, hearing a scream. 

There was Elaine, on foot, running as if her life depended on it. I needed no second glance. Behind her was a man with a rifle, almost overtaking her. 

As luck would have it, the momentum of my horse carried me rightat them. Careful to avoid Elaine, I rode square at the man, striking at him viciously with my riding crop before he knew whathad struck him. 

The fellow dropped, stunned. I leaped from my horse and ran toher, just as the rest of the hunt came up. 

Eagerly questioning us, they gathered about. 

Having waited until he was sure that Elaine had got away safely, the old tramp slowly and carefully followed down the stairs of theruined hotel. 

As he went down, he heard a shot from the woods. Could it be oneof the sentries? He looked about keenly, hesitating just what todo. 

In an instant, down below, he heard the scurry of footsteps fromthe improvised laboratory and shouts. He turned and stealthily ranup-stairs, just as the door opened. 

The tramp had not been the only one who had been alarmed by theshot of the sentry. 

Del Mar was talking again to the men when it rang out. "What'sthat?" he exclaimed. "Another intruder?"

The men stared at him blankly, while Del Mar dashed for the door, followed by them all. In the hall he issued his orders quickly. 

"Here, you fellows, " he called dividing the men, "get outside andsee what is doing. You other men follow me. I want you to see ifeverything's all right up above. "

Meanwhile the tramp had gained the upper hallway and dashed pastthe room which he occupied. Outside, in the hall, Del Mar and hismen rushed up to the door of the room in which Elaine had beenthrown. It was locked and they broke in. She was gone!

On into the next room they dashed, bearing down this door also. There was Shorty, trussed up in his underclothes. They hastened torelease him. 

"Where are they--where's the tramp?" demanded Del Mar angrily. 

"I think I heard some one on the roof, " replied Shorty weakly. Hewas right. The tramp had managed to get through a scuttle on theroof. Then he climbed down to the edge and began to let himselfhand over hand down the lightning rod. 

Reaching the ground safely, he scurried about to the back of thebuilding. There, tied, was the horse which Del Mar had ridden tothe hunt. He untied it, mounted and dashed off down the paththrough the woods, taking the shortest cut in the direction ofFort Dale. 

Dusty and flecked with foam, the tramp and his mount, a strangecombination, were instantly challenged by the sentry at the Fort. 

"I must see Lieutenant Woodward immediately, " urged the tramp. 

A heated argument followed until finally a corporal of the guardswas called and led off the tramp toward the headquarters. 

It was only a few minutes before Woodward was convinced of theidentity of the tramp with his friend, Professor Arnold. At thehead of a squad of cavalry, Woodward and the tramp dashed off. 

Already on the qui vive, Elaine heard the sound of hoof-beats longbefore the rest of us crowded around her. For the moment we allstood ready to repel an attack from any quarter. 

But it was not meant for us. It was Woodward at the head of ascore or so of cavalrymen. With him rode a tramp on a horse whichwas strangely familiar to me. 

"Oh, " cried Elaine, "there's the man who saved me!"

As they passed, the tramp paused a moment and looked at ussharply. Although he carefully avoided Elaine's eyes, I fanciedthat only when he saw that she was safe was he satisfied to gallopoff and rejoin the cavalry. 

 . . . . . . . 

Around the old hotel, in every direction, Del Mar's men weresearching for the tramp and Elaine, while in the hotel anothersearch was in progress. 

"Have you discovered anything?" asked Del Mar, entering. 

"No, sir, " they reported. 

"Confound it!" swore Del Mar, going up-stairs again. 

Here also were men searching. "Find anything?" he asked briefly. 

"No luck, " returned one. 

Del Mar went on up to the top floor and out through the openscuttle to the roof. "That's how he got away, all right, " hemuttered to himself, then looking up he exclaimed under hisbreath, as his eye caught something far off, "The deuce--what'sthat?"

Leaning down to the scuttle, he called, "Jenkins--my field-glasses--quick!"

One of his men handed them to him and he adjusted them, gazing offintently. There he could see what looked like a squad of cavalrygalloping along headed by an officer and a rough lookingindividual. 

"Come--we must get ready for an attack!" he shouted diving downthe scuttle again. 

In the laboratory dining-room, his men, recalled, hastily took hisorders. Each of them seized one of the huge black rubber newlycompleted gas bombs and ran out, making for a grove near-by. 

Quickly as Del Mar had acted, it was not done so fast but that thetroop of cavalry as they pulled up on the top of a hill andfollowed the directing finger of the tramp could see men runningto the cover of the grove. 

"Forward!" shouted Woodward. 

As if all were one machine, the men and horses shot ahead, untilthey came to the grove about the old hotel. There they dismountedand spread out in a semi-circular order, advancing on the grove. As they did so, shots rang out from behind the trees. Del Mar'smen, from the shelter were firing at them. But it seemed hopelessfor the fugitives. 

"Ready!" ordered Del Mar as the cavalrymen advanced, relentless. 

Each of his men picked up one of the big black gas bombs and heldit high up over his head. 

"Come on!" urged Woodward. 

His men broke into a charge on the grove. 

"Throw them!" ordered Del Mar. 

As far as he could hurl it, each of the men sent one of the blackglobes hurtling through the air. They fell almost simultaneously, a long line of them, each breaking into a thousand bits. Instantlydense, greenish-yellow fumes seemed to pour forth, envelopingeverything. The wind which Del Mar had carefully noted when hechose the position in the grove, was blowing from his men towardthe only position from which an attack could be made successfully. 

Against Woodward's men as they charged, it seemed as if atremendous, slow-moving wall of vapor were advancing from thetrees. It was only a moment before it completely wrapped them inits stifling, choking, suffocating embrace. Some fell, overcome. Others tried to run, clutching frantically at their throats andrubbing their eyes. 

"Get back--quick--till it rolls over, " choked Woodward. 

Those who were able to do so, picked up their stupefied comradesand retreated, as best they could, stumbling blindly back from thefearful death cloud of chlorine. 

Meantime, under cover of this weird defence, Del Mar and his men, their own faces covered and unrecognizable in their breathingmasks and goggles, dashed to one side, with a shout anddisappeared walking and running behind and even through the safetyof their impregnable gas barrier. 

More slowly we of the hunt had followed Woodward's cavalry until, some distance off, we stood, witnessing and wondering at theattack. To our utter amazement we saw them carrying off theirwounded and stupefied men. We hurried forward and gathered about, offering whatever assistance we could to resuscitate them. 

As Elaine and I helped, we saw the unkempt figure of the trampborne in and laid down. He was not completely overcome, having hadpresence of mind to tie a handkerchief over his nose and mouth. 

Elaine hurried toward him with an exclamation of sympathy. Justrecovering full consciousness, he heard her. 

With the greatest difficulty, he seemed to summon some reserveforce not yet used. He struggled to his feet and staggered off, asthough he would escape us. 

"What a strange old codger, " mused Elaine, looking from me at theretreating figure. "He saved my life--yet he won't even let methank him--or help him!"

CHAPTER XIII

THE SEARCHLIGHT GUN

"I don't understand it, " remarked Elaine one day as, with AuntJosephine and myself, she was discussing the strange events thathad occurred since the disappearance of Kennedy, "but, somehow, itis as if a strange Providence seems to be watching over us. "

"Nor do I, " I agreed. "It does seem that, although we do not seeit, a mysterious power for good is about us. It's uncanny. "

"A package for you, Miss Dodge, " announced Marie, coming in with asmall parcel which had been delivered by a messenger who did notwait for an answer. 

Elaine took it, looked at it, turned it over, and then looked atthe written address again. 

"It's not the handwriting of any one which I recognize, " shemused. "Now, I suppose I ought to be suspicious of it Yet, I'mgoing to open it. "

She did so. Inside, the paper wrapping covered a pasteboard box. She opened that. There lay a revolver, which she picked up andturned over. It was a curious looking weapon. 

"I never knew so much about firearms as I have learned in the pastfew weeks, " remarked Elaine. "But what do you suppose this is--andwho sent it to me--and why?"

She held the gun up. From the barrel stuck out a little rolled-uppiece of paper. "See, " she cried, reading and handing the paper tome, "there it is again--that mysterious power. "

Aunt Josephine and I read the note:

DEAR MISS DODGE:

This weapon shoots exactly into the center of the light disc. Keepit by you. --A FRIEND. 

"Let me see it, " I asked, taking the gun. Sure enough, along thebarrel was a peculiar tube. "A searchlight gun, " I exclaimed, puzzled, though still my suspicions were not entirely at rest. "Suppose it's sighted wrong, " I could not help considering. "Itmight be a plant to save some one from being shot. "

"That's easily settled, " returned Elaine. "Let's try it. "

"Oh, mercy no, --not here, " remonstrated Aunt Josephine. 

"Why not--down cellar?" persisted Elaine. "It can't hurt anythingthere. "

"I think it would be a good plan, " I agreed, "just to make surethat it is all right. "

Accordingly we three went down cellar. There, Elaine found thelight switch and turned it. Eagerly I hunted about for a mark. There, in some rubbish that had not yet been carted away, was asmall china plate. I set it up on a small shelf across the roomand took the gun. But Elaine playfully wrenched it from my hand. 

"No, " she insisted, "it was sent to me. Let me try it first. "

Reluctantly I consented. 

"Switch off the light, Walter, please, " she directed, standing afew paces from the plate. 

I did so. In the darkness Elaine pointed the gun and pulled alittle ratchet. Instantly a spot of light showed on the wall. Shemoved the revolver and the spot of light moved with it. As itrested on a little decorative figure in the center of the plate, she pulled the trigger. The gun exploded with a report, deafening, in the confined cellar. 

I switched on the light and we ran forward. There was the plate--smashed into a hundred bits. The bullet had struck exactly in thecentre of the little bull's-eye of light. 

"Splendid, " cried Elaine enthusiastically, as we looked at eachother in surprise. 

Though none of us guessed it, half an hour before, in theseclusion of his yacht, Woodward's friend, Professor Arnold, hadbeen standing with the long barrelled gun in his hand, adjustingthe tube which ran beneath the barrel. 

In one hand he held the gun; in the other was a piece of paper. Ashe brought the paper before the muzzle and pressed a ratchet bygripping the revolver handle, a distinct light appeared on thepaper, thrown out from the tube under the barrel. 

Having adjusted the tube and sighted it, Arnold wrote a hasty noteon another piece of paper and inserted it into the barrel of thegun, with the end sticking out just a bit. Then he wrapped thewhole thing up in a box, rang a bell, and handed the package to aservant with explicit instructions as to its delivery to the rightperson and only to that person. 

Down in the submarine harbor, Del Mar was in conference with hisboard of strategy and advice, laying the plan for the attack onAmerica. 

"Ever since we have been at work, " he remarked, "Elaine Dodge hasbeen busy hindering and frustrating us. That girl must go!"

Before him, on the table, he placed a square package. "It muststop, " he added ominously, tapping the package. 

"But how?" asked one of the men. "We've done our best. "

"This is a bomb, " replied Del Mar, continuing to tap the package. "When our man--let me see, X had better do it, --arrives, have himlook in the secret cavern by the landing-place. There I will leaveit. I want him to put it in her house to-night. "

He handed the bomb to one of his men who took it gingerly. Thenwith a few more words of admonition, he took up his diving helmetand left the headquarters, followed by the man. 

Several minutes later, Del Mar, alone, emerged from the water justoutside the submarine harbor and took off his helmet. 

He made his way over the rocks, carrying the bomb, until he cameto a little fissure in the rocks, like a cavern. There he hid thebomb carefully. Still carrying the helmet, he hurried along untilhe came to the cave entrance that led to the secret passage to thepanel in his bungalow library. Up through the secret passage hewent, reaching the panel and opening it by a spring. 

In the library Del Mar changed his wet clothes and hid them, thenset to work on an accumulation of papers on his desk. 

 . . . . . . . 

That afternoon, Elaine decided to go for a little ride through thecountry in her runabout. 

As she started to leave her room, dressed for the trip, it was asthough a premonition of danger came to her. She paused, thenturned back and took from the drawer the searchlight gun which hadbeen sent to her. She slipped it into the pocket of her skirt andwent out. 

Off she drove at a fast clip, thoroughly enjoying the ride until, near a bend in the road, as it swept down toward the shore, shestopped and got out, attracted by some wild flowers. They grew insuch profusion that it seemed no time before she had a bunch ofthem. On she wandered, down to the rocks, watching the restlesswaters of the Sound. Finally she found herself walking alone alongthe shore, one arm full of flowers, while with her free hand sheamused herself by skimming flat stones over the water. 

As she turned to pick up one, her eye caught something in therocks and she stared at it. There in a crevice, as though it hadbeen hidden, was a strange square package. She reached down andpicked it up. What could it be?

While she was examining it, back of her, another of those strangebe-helmeted figures came up out of the water. It watched her foran instant, then sank back into the water again. 

Elaine, holding the package in her hand, walked up the shore, oblivious to the strange eye that had been fixed on her. 

"I must show this to Lieutenant Woodward, " she said to herself. 

In the car she placed the package, then jumped in herselfcarefully and started off. 

A moment after she had gone, the diver reappeared, looking aboutcautiously. This time the coast was clear and he came all the wayout, taking off his helmet and placed it in the secret hiding-place which Del Mar and his men used. Then, with another glance, now of anger, in the direction of Elaine, he hurried up the shore. 

Meanwhile, as fast as her light runabout would carry her, Elainewhizzed over to Fort Dale. 

As she entered the grounds, the sentry saluted her, though thatpart of the formalities of admission was purely perfunctory, forevery one at the Fort knew her now. 

"Is Lieutenant Woodward in?" she inquired. 

"Yes ma'am, " returned the sentry. "I will send for him. "

A corporal appeared and took a message for her to Woodward. It wasonly a few minutes before Lieutenant Woodward himself appeared. 

"What is the trouble, Miss Dodge?" he asked solicitously, notingthe look on her face. 

"I don't know what it is, " she replied dubiously. "I've foundsomething among the rocks. Perhaps it is a bomb. "

Woodward looked at the package, studying it. "Professor Arnold isinvestigating this affair for us, " he remarked. "Perhaps you'dbetter take the package to him on his yacht. I'm sorry I can't gowith you, but just now I'm on duty. "

"That's a good idea, " she agreed. "Only I'm sorry you can't goalong with me. "

She started up the car and drove off as Woodward turned back tothe Fort with a lingering look. 

Del Mar was hard at work in the library when, suddenly, he heard asound at the panel. He reached over and pressed a button on hisdesk, and the panel opened. Through it came the diver stillwearing his dripping suit and carrying the weird helmet under hisarm. 

"That Dodge girl has crossed us again!" he exclaimed excitedly. 

"How?" demanded Del Mar, with an oath. 

"I saw her on the rocks just now. She happened to stumble on thebomb which you left there to be placed. "

"And then?" demanded Del Mar. 

"She took it with her in her car. "

"The deuce!" ejaculated the foreign agent, furiously. "You mustget the men out and hunt the country thoroughly. She must notescape now at any cost. "

The diving man dove back into the panel to escape Del Mar's wrath, while Del Mar hurried out, leaving his valet in the library. 

Quickly, Del Mar made his way to a secret hiding-place in thehills back of the bay. There he found his picked band of men armedwith rifles. 

As briefly as he could he told them of what had happened. "We mustget her this time--dead or alive, " he ordered. "Now scatter aboutthe country. Keep in touch with each other and when you find her, close in on her at any cost. "

The men saluted and left in various directions to scour thecountry. Del Mar himself picked up a rifle and followed shortly, passing down a secret trail to the road where he had a car with achauffeur waiting. Still carrying the rifle, he climbed in and theman shot the car along down the road. 

 . . . . . . . 

On the top of a hill one of the men was posted as a sort oflookout. Gazing over the country carefully, his eye was finallyarrested by something at which he stared eagerly. Far away, on theroad, he could see a car in which was a girl, alone. Waving in thebreeze was a red feather in her hat. He looked more sharply. Itwas Elaine Dodge. 

The man turned and waved a signal with a handkerchief to anotherman far off. Down the valley another of Del Mar's men was waitingand watching. As soon as he saw the signal, he waved back and ranalong the road. 

As Del Mar whizzed along, he could see one of his men approachingover the road, waving to him. "Stop!" he ordered his driver. 

The man hurried forward. "I've got the signal, " he panted. "Theyhave seen her car over the hill. "

"Good, " exclaimed Del Mar, pulling a black silk mask over hiseyes. "Now, get off quickly. We've got to catch her. "

They sped away again in a cloud of dust. 

But even while Del Mar was speeding toward her, another of his menhad discovered her presence, so vigilant were they. 

He had been keeping a sharp watch on the road, when he wassuddenly all attention. He saw a car, through the foliage. Quickly, his rifle went to his shoulder. Through the sight hecould just cover Elaine's head, for her hat, with a bright redfeather in it, showed plainly just over the bushes. 

He aimed carefully and fired. 

I had been out for a tramp over the hills with no destination inparticular. As I swung along the road, I heard the throbbing of acar coming up the hill, the cut-out open. I turned, for cars makewalking on country roads somewhat hazardous nowadays. 

As I did so, some one in the car waved to me. I looked again. Itwas Elaine. 

"Where are you going?" she called. 

"Where are YOU going?" I returned, laughing. 

"I've just had a very queer experience--found something down onthe rocks, " she replied seriously, pointing to the square packageon the floor of the car. "I took it to Lieutenant Woodward and headvised me to take it to Professor Arnold on his yacht. I think itis a bomb. I wish you'd go with me. "

Before I could answer, up the hill a rifle shot cracked. There wasa whirr in the air and a bullet sang past us, cutting the redfeather off Elaine's hat. 

"Duck!" I cried, jumping into the car, "And drive like thedickens!"

She turned and we fairly ricocheted down that road back again. 

Behind us, a man, a stranger whom we did not pause to observe, rushed from the bushes and fired after us again. 

Suddenly another rifle shot cracked. It was from another car thathad stealthily sneaked up on us--coming fast, recklessly. 

"There's her car, " pointed one of the occupants to a man who wasmasked in black. 

"Yes, " he nodded. "Give her a little more gas!"'

"Crouch down, " I muttered, "as low as you can. "

We did so, racing for life, the more powerful motor behind usoverhauling us every instant. 

We were coming to a very narrow part of the road where it turned, on one side a sheer hill, on the other a stream several feet down. 

If we had an accident, I thought, it might be ticklish for us, supposing the square package really to be a bomb. What if itshould go off? The idea suggested another, instantly. The carbehind was only a few feet off. 

As we reached the narrow road by the stream, I rose up. As far asI could, back of me, I hurled the infernal machine. It fell. Wereceived a shower of dirt and small stones, but the cover of thecar protected us. Where the bomb landed, however, it cut a deephole in the roadway. 

On came Del Mar's car, the driver frantically tugging at theemergency brake. But it was of no use. There was not room to turnaside. The car crashed into the hole, like a gigantic plow. 

It took one header over the side of the road and down several feetinto the stream, just as the masked man and the driver jumped farahead into the water. 

Safe now in our car which was slackening its terrific speed, Ilooked back. "They've been thrown!" I cried. "We're all right. "

On the edge of the water, just covered by some wreckage, thechauffeur lay motionless. The masked man crawled from under thewreckage and looked at him a moment. 

"Dead!" he exclaimed, still mechanically gripping a rifle in hishand. 

Angrily he raised it at us and fired. 

A moment later, some other men gathered from all directions abouthim, each armed. 

"Don't mind the wreck, " he cried, exasperated. "Fire!"

A volley was delivered at us. But the distance was now apparentlytoo great. 

We were just congratulating ourselves on our escape, when a strayshot whizzed past, striking a piece directly out of the head ofthe steering-post, almost under Elaine's hands. 

Naturally she lost control, though fortunately we were not goingso fast now. Crazily, our car swerved from side to side of theroad, as she vainly tried to control both its speed and direction. On the very edge of the ditch, however, it stopped. 

We looked back. There we could see a group of men who seemed tospring out of the woods, as if from nowhere, at the sound of theshots. A shout went up at the sight of the bullet taking effect, and they ran forward at us. 

One of their number, I could see, masked, who had been in thewrecked car, stumbled forward weakly, until finally he sank down. 

A couple of the others ran to him. "Go on, " he must have urgedvehemently. "One of you is enough to stay with me. I'm going backto the submarine harbor. The rest--go on--report to me there. "

As the rest ran toward us, there was nothing for us to do but toabandon the car ourselves and run for it. We left the road andstruck into the trackless woods, followed closely now by two ofthe men who had outdistanced the rest. Through the woods we fled, taking advantage of such shelter as we could find. 

"Look, here's a cave, " cried Elaine, as we plunged, exhausted andabout ready to drop, down into a ravine. 

We hurried in and the bushes swung over the cave entrance. Insidewe stopped short and gazed about. It was dark and gloomy. Welooked back. There was no hope there. They had been overtaking us. On down a passageway, we went. 

The two men who were pursuing us plunged down the ravine also. Asill-luck would have it, they saw the cave entrance and dashed in, then halted. Crouching in the shadow we could see their figuressilhoutted in the dim light of the entrance of the cavern. Onestopped at the entrance while the other advanced. He was a bigfellow and powerfully built and the other fellow was equallyburly. I made up my mind to fight to the last though I knew it washopeless. It was dark. I could not even see the man advancing now. 

Quickly Elaine reached into her pocket and drew out something. 

"Here, Walter, take this, " she cried. I seized the object. It wasthe searchlight gun. 

Hastily I aimed it, the spot of light glowing brightly. Indeed, Idoubt whether I could have shot very accurately otherwise. As theman approached cautiously down the passageway the bright disc oflight danced about until finally it fell full on his breast. Ifired. The man fell forward instantly. 

Again I fired, this time at the man in the cave entrance. Hejumped back, dropping his gun which exploded harmlessly. His handwas wounded. Quickly he drew back and disappeared among the trees. 

We waited in tense silence, and then cautiously looked out of themouth of the cave. No one seemed to be about. 

"Come--let's make a dash for it, " urged Elaine. 

We ran out and hurried on down the ravine, apparently notfollowed. 

Back among the trees, however, the man had picked up a rifle whichhe had hidden. While he was binding up his hand with ahandkerchief, he saw us. Painfully he tried to aim his gun. But itwas too heavy for his weakened arm and the pain was too great. Hehad to lower it. With a muttered imprecation, he followed us at adistance. 

Evidently, to us, we had eluded the pursuers, for no one seemednow to be following, at least as far as we could determine. Wekept on, however, until we came to the water's edge. There, downthe bay, we could see Professor Arnold's yacht. 

"Let us see Professor Arnold, anyhow, " said Elaine, leading theway along the shore. 

We came at last, without being molested, to a little dock. Asailor was standing beside it and moored to it was a swift motor-boat. Out at anchor was the yacht. 

"You are Professor Arnold's man?" asked Elaine. 

"Yes'm, " he replied, remembering her. 

"Is the Professor out on his boat?" we asked. 

He nodded. "Did you want to see him?"

"Very much, " answered Elaine. 

"I'll take you out, " he offered. 

We jumped into the motor-boat, he started the engine and we planedout over the water. 

Though we did not see him, the man whom I had wounded was stillwatching us from the shore, noting every move. He had followed usat a distance across the woods and fields and down along the shoreto the dock, had seen us talking to Arnold's man, and get into theboat. 

From the shore he continued to watch us skim across the bay andpull up alongside the yacht. As we climbed the ladder, he turnedand hurried back the way he had come. 

 . . . . . . . 

Elaine and I climbed aboard the yacht where we could see theProfessor sitting in a wicker deck chair. 

"Why, how do you do?" he welcomed us, adjusting his glasses sothat his eyes seemed, if anything, more opaque than before. 

I could not help thinking that, although he was glad to see us, there was a certain air of restraint about him. 

Quickly Elaine related the story of finding the bomb in the rocksand the peculiar events and our escape which followed. Once, atthe mention of the searchlight gun, Professor Arnold raised hishand and coughed back of it. I felt sure that it was to hide aninvoluntary expression of satisfaction and that it must be he whohad sent the gun to Elaine. 

He was listening attentively to her, while I stood by the rail, now and then looking out over the water. Far away I notedsomething moving over the surface, like a rod, followed by a thinwake of foam. 

"Look!" I exclaimed, "What's that?"

Elaine turned to me, as Arnold seized his glasses. 

"Why, it seems to be moving directly at us, " exclaimed Elaine. 

"By George, it's the periscope of a submarine, " cried Arnold amoment later, lowering his glasses. 

He did not hesitate an instant. 

"Get the yacht under way, " he ordered the captain, who immediatelyshouted his orders to the rest. 

Quickly the engine started and we plowed ahead, that ominouslooking periscope following. 

In the submarine harbor to which he had been taken, Del Mar foundthat he had been pretty badly shaken up by the accident to hiscar. His clothes were torn and his face and body scratched. Nobones were broken, however, though the shock had been great. Several of his men were endeavoring to fix him up in the littlesubmarine office, but he was angry, very angry. 

At such a juncture, a man in a dripping diving-suit entered andpulled off his helmet, after what had evidently been a hasty tripfrom the land through the entrance and up again into the harbor. As he approached, Del Mar saw that the man's hand was bound up. 

"What's the matter?" demanded Del Mar. "How did you get that?"

"That fellow Jameson and the girl did it, " he replied, tellingwhat had happened in the cave. "Some one must have given them oneof those new searchlight guns. "

Del Mar, already ugly, was beside himself with rage now. 

"Where are they?" he asked. 

"I saw them go out to the yacht of that Professor Arnold. "

"He's the fellow that gave her the gun, " almost hissed Del Mar. "On the yacht, are they?"

An evil smile seemed to spread over his face. "Then we'll get themall, this time. Man the submarine--the Z99. "

All left the office on the run, hurrying around the ledge and downinto the open hatch of the submarine. Del Mar came along a momentlater, giving orders sharply and quickly. 

The hatch was closed and the vessel sealed. On all sides wereelectrical devices and machines to operate the craft and thetorpedoes--an intricate system of things which it seemed as if nohuman mind could possibly understand. 

Del Mar threw on a switch. The submarine hummed and trembled. Slowly she sank in the harbor until she was at the level of theunderwater entrance through the rocks. Carefully she was guidedout through this entrance into the waters of the larger, realharbor. 

Del Mar took his place at the periscope, the eye of the submarine. Anxiously he turned it about and bent over the image which itprojected. 

"There it is, " he muttered, picking out Arnold's yacht andchanging the course of the submarine so that it was headeddirectly at it, the planes turned so that they kept the boat justunder the surface with only the periscope showing above. 

Forward, about the torpedo discharge tubes men were busy, testingthe doors, and getting ready the big automobile torpedoes. 

"They must have seen us, " muttered Del Mar. "They've started theyacht. But we can beat them, easily. Are you ready?"

"Yes, " called back the men forward, pushing a torpedo into thelock-like compartment from which it was launched. 

"Let it go, then, " bellowed Del Mar. 

The torpedo shot out into the water, travelling under her ownpower, straight at the yacht. 

 . . . . . . . 

Elaine and I looked back. The periscope was much nearer thanbefore. "Can we outdistance the submarine?" I asked of Arnold. 

Arnold shook his head, his face grave. On came the thin line offoam. "I'm afraid we'll have to leave the yacht, " he saidwarningly. "My little motor-boat is much faster. "

Arnold shouted his orders as he led us down the ladder to themotor-boat into which we jumped, followed by as many of the crewas could get in, while the others leaped into the water from therail of the yacht and struck out for the shore which was not verydistant. 

"What's that?" cried Elaine, horrified, pointing back. 

The water seemed to be all churned up. A long cigar-shaped affairwas slipping along near enough to the surface so that we couldjust make it out--murderous, deadly, aimed right at the heart ofthe yacht. 

"A torpedo!" exclaimed Arnold. "Cast off!"

We moved off from the yacht as swiftly as the speedy little openmotor-boat would carry us, not a minute too soon. 

The torpedo struck the yacht almost exactly amidships. A hugecolumn of water spurted up into the air as though a gigantic whalewere blowing off. The yacht itself seemed lifted from the waterand literally broken in half like a brittle rod of glass anddropped back into the water. 

Below in the submarine, Del Mar was still at the periscopedirecting things. 

"A hit!" he cried exultingly. "We got the whole bunch this time!"

He turned to the men to congratulate them, a smile on his evilface. But as he looked again, he caught sight of our little motor-boat skimming safely away on the other side of the wreck. 

"The deuce!" he muttered. "Try another. Here's the direction. "

Furiously he swore as the men guided the submarine and loadedanother torpedo into a tube. As the tube came into position, theylet the torpedo go. An instant later it was hissing its way at us. 

"See, there's another!" I cried, catching sight of it. 

All looked. Sure enough, through the water could be seen anotherof those murderous messengers dashing at us. 

Arnold ran forward and seized the wheel himself, swinging the boataround hard to starboard and the land. We turned just in time. Thetorpedo, brainless but deadly, dashed past us harmlessly. 

As fast as we could now we made for the shore. No one could catchus with such a start, not even the swiftest torpedo. We had beenrescued by Arnold's quick wit from a most desperate situation. 

Somewhere below the water, I could imagine a man consumed withfury over our escape, as the periscope disappeared and thesubmarine made off. 

We were safe. But, looking out over the water, we could not helpshuddering at the perils beneath its apparently peaceful surface. 

CHAPTER XIV

THE LIFE CHAIN

Early one morning, a very handsome woman of the adventuress typearrived with several trunks at the big summer hotel, just outsidethe town, the St. Germain. 

Among the many fashionable people at the watering-place, however, she attracted no great attention and in the forenoon she quietlywent out in her motor for a ride. 

It was Madame Larenz, one of Del Mar's secret agents who, up tothis time, had been engaged in spying on wealthy andimpressionable American manufacturers. 

Her airing brought her, finally, to the bungalow of Del Mar andthere she was admitted in a manner that showed that Del Martrusted her highly. 

"Now, " he instructed, after a few minutes chat, "I want you to getacquainted with Miss Dodge. You know how to interest her. She'squite human. Pretty gowns appeal to her. Get her to the St. Germain. Then I'll tell you what to do. "

A few minutes later the woman left in her car, so rapidly driventhat no one would recognize her. 

It was early in the afternoon that Aunt Josephine was sitting onthe veranda, when an automobile drove up and a very stylishlygowned and bonnetted woman stepped out. 

"Good afternoon, " she greeted Aunt Josephine ingratiatingly as sheapproached the house. "I am Madame Larenz of New York and Paris. Perhaps you have heard of my shops on Fifth Avenue and the Rue dela Paix. "

Aunt Josephine had heard the name, though she did not know thatthis woman had assumed it without being in any way connected withthe places she mentioned. 

"I'm establishing a new sort of summer service at the betterresorts, " the woman explained. "You see, my people find itannoying to go into the city for gowns. So I am bringing thelatest Paris models out to them. Is Miss Dodge at home?"

"I think she is playing tennis, " returned Aunt Josephine. 

"Oh, yes, I see her, thank you, " the woman murmured, moving towardthe tennis court, back of the house. 

Elaine and I had agreed to play a couple of games and were tossingrackets for position. 

"Very well, " laughed Elaine, as she won the toss, "take the othercourt. "

It was a cool day and I felt in good spirits. Just to see whetherI could do it still, I jumped over the net. 

Our game had scarcely started when we were interrupted by theapproach of a stunning looking woman. 

"Miss Dodge?" she greeted. "Will you excuse me a moment?"

Elaine paused in serving the ball and the woman handed her a cardfrom her delicate gold mesh bag. It read simply:

Mme. Larenz Paris Gowns

Elaine looked at the card a moment while the woman repeated whatshe had already told Aunt Josephine. 

"You have them here, then?" queried Elaine, interested. 

"Yes, I have some very exclusive models which I am showing at mysuite in the St. Germain. "

"Oh, how lovely, " exclaimed Elaine. "I must see them. "

They talked a few minutes, while I waited patiently for Elaine tostart the game again. That game, however, was destined never to befinished. More weighty matters were under discussion. 

I wondered what they were talking about and, suppressing a yawn, Iwalked toward them. As I approached, I heard scattered remarksabout styles and dress fabrics. 

Elaine had completely forgotten tennis and me. She took a coupleof steps away from the court with the woman, as I came up. 

"Aren't you going to play?" I asked. 

"I know you'll excuse me, Walter, " smiled Elaine. "My frocks areall so frightfully out of date. And here's a chance to get newones, very reasonably, too. "

They walked off and I could not help scowling at the visitor. Ontoward the house Elaine and Madame Larenz proceeded and around itto the front porch where Aunt Josephine was standing. 

"Just think, Auntie, " cried Elaine, "real Paris gowns down herewithout the trouble of going to the city--and cheaply, too. "

Aunt Josephine was only mildly interested, but that did not seemto worry Madame Larenz. 

"I shall be glad to see you at three, Miss Dodge, " she said as shegot into her car again and drove off. 

By that time, I had caught up with Elaine again. "Just one game, "I urged. 

"Please excuse me, --this time, Walter, " she pleaded, laughing. "You don't know how sadly I'm in need of new frocks. "

It was no use of further urging her. Tennis was out of her mindfor good that day. Accordingly, I mounted to my room and therequickly donned my riding clothes. 

When I came down, I found Aunt Josephine still on the veranda. Inaddition to my horse which I had telephoned for, Elaine's littlerunabout had been driven to the door. While I was talking to AuntJosephine, Elaine came down-stairs and walked over to the car. 

"May I go with you?" I pleaded. 

"No, Walter, " she replied laughing merrily. "You can't go. I wantto try them on. "

Properly squelched, I retreated. Elaine drove away and a momentlater, I mounted and cantered off leisurely. 

Near Del Mar's bungalow might have been seen again the mysteriousnaturalist, walking along the road with a butterfly net in hishand and what appeared to be a leather specimen case, perhaps sixinches long, under his other arm. 

As Madame Larenz whizzed past in her car, he looked up keenly inspite of his seeming near-sightedness and huge smoked glasses. Hewatched her closely, noting the number of the car, then turned andfollowed it. 

Madame Larenz drew up, a second time, before Del Mar's. As she gotout and entered, the naturalist, having quickened his pace, cameup and watched her go in. Then, after taking in the situation fora moment, he made his way around the side of the bungalow. 

"Is Mr. Del Mar at home?" inquired Madame Larenz, as the valetushered her into the library. 

"No ma'am, " he returned. "Mr. Del Mar is out. But he left wordthat if you came before he got back, you were to leave word. "

The woman sat down at the desk and wrote hastily. When she hadfinished the short note, she read it over and folded it up. 

"Tell Mr. Del Mar I've left a note here on his desk, " she said tothe valet. 

A moment later she left the library, followed by the valet, whoaccompanied her to her car and assisted her in. 

"The hotel, " she directed to her driver, as he started off, whilethe valet returned to the bungalow. 

Outside, the naturalist had come through the shrubbery and hadbeen looking in at the library window, watching every move ofMadame Larenz as she wrote. As she went out, he paused just asecond to look about. Then he drew a long knife from his pocket, forced the window catch, and quickly climbed into the room. 

Directly to the desk he went and hurriedly ran over the papers onit. There was the note. He picked it up and read it eagerly. 

"My apartment--St. Germain--3 P. M. 

"LARENZ. "

For a moment he seemed to consider what to do. Then he replacedthe note. Suddenly he heard the sound of footsteps. It was thevalet returning. Quickly the naturalist ran to the window andjumped out. 

A moment later, the valet entered the library again. "That'sstrange, " he exclaimed under his breath, "I don't recall openingthat window over there to-day. "

He looked puzzled. But as no one was about, he went over and shutit. 

Some distance down the road, the naturalist quietly emerged insafety from the bushes. With scarcely a moment's hesitation, hismind thoroughly made up to his course, he hurried along the road. 

Meanwhile, at the St. Germain, Madame Larenz entered and passedthrough the rotunda of the hotel, followed by many admiringglances of the men. 

Up in her room stood several large trunks, open. From them hadbeen taken a number of gowns which were scattered about or hung upfor exhibition. 

As she entered, quickly she selected one of the trunks whosecontents were more smart than the rest and laid the gowns out mostfetchingly about the room. 

In the office of the hotel a few moments later, the naturalistentered. He looked around curiously, then went to the desk andglanced over the register. At the name "Mme Larenz, Paris, Room22, " he paused. 

For some seconds he stood thinking. Then he deliberately walkedover to a leather chair and took a prominent seat near-by in thelobby. He had discarded his net, but still had the case which nowhe had shoved into his pocket. From a table, he picked up anewspaper. 

It was not long before Del Mar pulled up before the hotel andentered in his usual swagger manner. He had returned to thebungalow, read the note and hurried over to the St. Germain. 

He crossed the lobby, back to the office. As he did so, thenaturalist had his face hidden deeply in the open newspaper. Butno sooner had Del Mar passed than the newspaper fell unappreciatedand he gazed after him, as he left the lobby by the back way. 

It was only a few minutes after she had completed arranging hersmall stock so that it looked quite impressive, that Madame Larenzheard a knock at the door and recognized Del Mar's secret code. She opened the door and he strode in. 

"I got your note, " he said briefly, coming directly to businessand telling her just what he wanted done. "Let me see, " heconcluded, glancing at his watch. "It is after three now. She oughtto be here any minute. "

Outside, Elaine drove up to the rather garish entrance of the St. Germain and one of the boys in uniform ran forward to open thedoor and take charge of the car. She, too, crossed the lobbywithout seeing the old naturalist, though nothing escaped him. 

As she passed, he started to rise and cross toward her, thenappeared to change his mind. 

Elaine went on out through the back of the lobby, directed by aboy, and mounted a flight of stairs, in preference to taking thelift to the second, or sort of mezzanine floor. Down along thecorridor she went, hunting for number twenty-two. At last shefound it at the end, and knocked. 

Del Mar and Madame Larenz were still talking in low tones whenthey heard a light tap on the door. 

"There she is, now, " whispered Larenz. 

"All right. Let her in, " answered Del Mar, leaping quietly to acloset. "I'll hide here until I get the signal. Do just as I toldyou. "

Outside, at the same time, according to his carefully concoctedplans, Del Mar's car had driven up and stopped close to the sideof the hotel, which was on a slight hill that brought the streetlevel here not so far below the second story windows. Three of hismost trusted men were in the car. 

Madame Larenz opened the door. "Oh, I'm so glad you came, " sherattled on to Elaine. "You see, I've got to get started. Not acustomer yet. But if you'll only take a few gowns, other peoplewill come to me. I'll let you have them cheaply, too. Just look atthis one. "

She held up one filmy, creamy creation that looked like a delicateflower. 

"I'd like to try it on, " cried Elaine, fingering it rapturously. 

"By all means, " agreed Madame. "We are alone. Do so. "

With deft fingers, Larenz helped her take off her own very prettydress. As Elaine slipped the soft gown over her head, with herhead and arms engaged in its multitudinous folds, Madame Larenz, apowerful woman, seized her. Elaine was effectually gagged andbound in the gown itself. 

Instantly, Del Mar flung himself from the closet, disguising hisvoice. Together, they wrapped the dress about Elaine even moretightly to prevent her screaming. 

Madame 'Larenz seized a blanket and threw that over Elaine's head, also, while Del Mar ran to the window. There were his men in thecar, waiting below. 

"Are you ready?" he called softly to them. 

They looked about carefully. There was no one on that side of thehotel just at the moment. 

"Ready, " responded one. "Quick!"

Together, Del Mar and Madame Larenz passed Elaine, ineffectuallystruggling, out of the window. The men seized her and placed herin the bottom of the car, which was covered. Then they shot away, taking a back road up the hill. 

Hurriedly the naturalist went through the lobby in the directionElaine had gone, and a moment later reached the corridor above. 

Down it, he could hear some one coming out of room twenty-two. Heslid into an angle and hid. 

It was Del Mar and the woman he had seen at the bungalow. Theypassed by without discovering him, nor could he make out anythingthat they said. What mischief was afoot? Where was Elaine?

He ran to the door and tried it. It was locked. Quickly, he tookfrom his pocket a skeleton key and unlocked it. There was Elaine'shat and dress lying in a heap on the bed. But she was not there. He was now thoroughly alarmed. 

She could not have passed him in the hall. Therefore she must havegone or been taken out through the window. That would never havebeen voluntary, especially leaving her things there. 

The window was still open. He ran to it. One glance out wasenough. He leaped to the ground. Sure enough, there wereautomobile tracks in the dust. 

"Del Mar's car, " he muttered to himself, studying them. 

He fairly ran around the side of the hotel. There he came suddenlyupon Elaine's car standing alone, and recognized it. 

There was no time for delay. He jumped into it, and let the swiftlittle racer out as he turned and gathered momentum to shoot upthe hill on high speed. 

Meanwhile, I had been jogging along through the country, lonelyand disconsolate. I don't know how it happened, but I suppose itwas by some subconscious desire. At any rate I found myself at theroad that came out across one leading to the St. Germain and itoccurred to me that Elaine might by this time have purchasedenough frocks to clothe her for a year. At any rate I quickened mypace in the hope of seeing her. 

Suddenly, my horse shied and a familiar little car flashed pastme. But the driver was not familiar. It was Elaine's roadster. Init was a stranger--a man who looked like a "bugologist, " as nearlyas I can describe him. Was he running off with her car while shewas waiting inside the hotel?

I galloped after him. 

Del Mar's automobile, with Elaine bound and gagged in it, droverapidly by back and unfrequented ways into the country until atlast it pulled up before an empty two-story house in a sort ofgrove of trees. 

The men leaped out, lifted Elaine, and carried her bodily into thehouse, taking her up-stairs and into an upper room. She hadfainted when they laid her down and loosened the dress from abouther face so that she could breathe. There they left her, on thefloor, her hands and feet bound, and went out. 

How long she lay there, she never knew, but at last the airrevived her and she regained consciousness and sat up. Her muscleswere sore and her head ached. But she set her teeth and beganstruggling with the cords that bound her, managing at last to pullthe dress over herself at least. 

In Elaine's car, the naturalist drove slowly at times, followingthe tracks of the automobile ahead. At last, however, he came to aplace where he saw that the tracks went up a lonely side road. Toapproach in a car was to warn whoever was there. He ran the cat upalongside the road in the bushes and jumped out leaving it andfollowing the tracks up the side roadway. 

As he approached a single deserted house, he left even the narrowroad altogether and plunged into the woods, careful to proceednoiselessly. Through the bushes, near the house, he peered. Therehe could see one of Del Mar's men in the doorway, apparentlytalking to others behind him. 

Stealthily the naturalist crept around, still hiding, until he wascloser to the house on the other side. At last he worked his wayaround to the rear door. He tried it. It was bolted and even theskeleton key was unavailing to slide the bolt. Seconds wereprecious. 

Quickly, he went to the corner of the house. There was a water-leader. He began to climb it, risking its precarious support. 

On the roof at last, the naturalist crawled along, looking forsome way of getting into the house. But he could not seem to findany. Carefully, he crawled to the edge of the roof and lookedover. Below, he could hear sounds, but could make nothing of them. 

From his pocket, he took the leather case and opened it. There wasa peculiar arrangement, like some of the collapsible arms on whichtelephone instruments are often fastened to a desk or wall, capable of being collapsed into small space or of being extendedfor some distance. On the thing was arranged a system of mirrors, which the naturalist adjusted. 

It was a pocket periscope. 

He thrust the thing over the edge of the roof and down, and lookedthrough it. Below, he could see into the room from which came thepeculiar sounds. 

He looked anxiously. There he could see Elaine endeavoring stillto loosen the cords and unable to do so. Only for a moment helooked. Then he folded up the pocket periscope into the case andshoved it back into his pocket. Quickly he crossed the roof again, and slid back down the rain-pipe. 

At the door stood three of Del Mar's men waiting for Del Mar whohad told them he would follow immediately. 

The naturalist had by this time reached the ground and was goingalong carefully back of the house. He drew his revolver and, pointing it down, fired. Then he dodged back of an extension anddisappeared for the moment. 

Instantly, the three men sprang up and ran toward the spot whereit seemed the shot had been fired. There was no one about the sideof the house. But the wind had carried the smoke into some bushesbeside the grove and they crashed into the bushes, beating about. 

At the same time, the naturalist, having first waited until he sawwhich way the men were going, dashed about the house in theopposite direction. Then he slipped, unopposed and unobserved, inthrough the open front door, up the stairs and along to the roominto which he had just been looking. He unlocked the door, andentered. Elaine was still struggling with the cords when shecaught sight of the stranger. 

"Not a word, " he cautioned under his breath. 

She was indeed too frightened to cry out. Quickly, he loosenedher, still holding his finger to his lips to enjoin silence. 

"Follow me, " he whispered. 

She obeyed mechanically, and they went out into the hall. On down-stairs went the naturalist, Elaine still keeping close after him. 

He looked out through the front door, then drew back. Quickly hewent through the lower hall until he came to the back door in thekitchen, Elaine following. He unbolted the door and opened it. 

"Run, " he said, simply, pointing out of the door. "They're comingback the other way. I'll hold them. "

She needed no further urging, but darted from the house as heclosed the door after her. 

 . . . . . . . 

It was just at this point that Del Mar came riding along the mainroad on horseback. He pulled up suddenly as he saw a car run inalongside the road. 

"That's Elaine's runabout, " he muttered, as he dismounted and tiedhis horse. "How came it here?"

He approached the car, much worried by its unaccountable presencethere instead of before the St. Germain. Then he drew his gun andhurried up the side road. 

He heard a shot and quickened his pace. In the woods unexpectedlyhe came upon his three men still beating about, searching withdrawn revolvers for the person who had fired the shot. 

"Well?" he demanded sharply, "what's all this?"

"Some one fired a shot, " they explained, somewhat crestfallen. 

"It was a trick, you fools, " he answered testily. "Get back toyour prisoner. "

Without a word they turned and hurried toward the house, Del Marfollowing. "You two go in, " he ordered the foremost. "I'll goaround the house with Patrick. "

As Del Mar and the other man ran around the corner, they couldjust catch a fleeting glimpse on some one disappearing among thetrees. 

It was Elaine. 

The man hurried forward, blazing away with his gun. 

Running, breathless, Elaine heard the shot behind her which DelMar's man had fired in his eagerness. The bullet struck a treenear her with a "ping!" She glanced back and saw the man. But shedid not stop. Instead, she redoubled her efforts, running zigzagin among the trees where they were thickest. 

Del Mar, a little bit behind his man where she could not recognizehim, urged the man on, following carefully. 

On fled Elaine, her heart beating fast. Suddenly she stopped andalmost cried out in vexation. A stream blocked her retreat, astream, swift and deep. 

She looked back, terrified. Her pursuers were coming ahead fastnow in her direction. Wildly she gazed around. There was a canoeon the bank. In an instant she jumped in, untied it, and seizedthe paddle. Off she went, striking for the opposite shore. But thecurrent was racing swiftly, and she was already tired andexhausted. She could scarcely make any headway at all in thefierce eddies. But at least, she thought hurriedly, she wasgetting further and further away from them down-stream. 

Up above, Del Mar and his man came to the edge of the water. Therethey stood for a moment looking down. 

"There she is, " pointed the man. 

Del Mar raised his revolver and fired. 

Suddenly a bullet struck Elaine's paddle and broke it. Clutchingthe useless splintered shaft, she was now at the mercy of thecurrent, swept along like a piece of driftwood. 

She looked about frantically. What was that roaring noise?

It was the waterfalls ahead!

 . . . . . . . 

In the meantime, Del Mar's other two men had entered the house andhad run up-stairs, knowing well his wrath if anything hadhappened. As they did so, the naturalist poked his head cautiouslyout of the kitchen where he had been hiding, and saw them. Then hefollowed noiselessly, his revolver ready. 

Headlong they ran into the room where they had left Elaine. Shewas gone!

Before they could turn, the naturalist locked the door, turned andtook the steps down, two at a time. 

Then he ran out of the front door and into the woods at an angleto the direction taken by Elaine, turning and going down hill, where a rapid, swollen stream curved about through a gorge. As hereached the stream, he heard a shot above, and a scream. 

He looked up. There was Elaine, swept down toward him. Below heknew the stream tumbled over a tall cataract into the gorge below. 

What could he do?

A sudden crackling of the twigs caused him to turn and catch sightof me, just coming up. 

For, as best I could on horseback, I had followed Elaine's caruntil at last I saw that it had been abandoned. Thoroughlyalarmed, I rode on, past a deserted house until suddenly I heard ashot and a scream. It seemed to come from below me and I leapedoff my horse, making for it as fast as I could, racing toward astream whose roar I could hear. 

There on the bank I came upon a queer old codger, looking aboutwildly. Was he the automobile thief? I ran forward, ready to seizehim. But as I did so, he whirled about and with a strengthremarkable in one so old seized my own wrist before I could gethis. 

"Look!" he cried simply, pointing up the stream. 

I did. A girl in a canoe was coming down toward the falls, screaming, her paddle broken and useless. My heart leaped into mymouth. It was Elaine!

"Come, " he panted eagerly to me. "I can save her. You must do justas I say. "

He pointed to an overhanging rock near-by and we ran to it. 

By this time Elaine was almost upon us, each second getting nearerthe veritable maelstrom above the falls. 

From the rock overhung also a tree at the very edge of the water. 

There was nothing to do but obey him. Above, though we did not seethem, Del Mar and his man were gloating over the result of theirwork. But they were gloating too soon. We came to the rock and thetree. 

"Here, " cried the new-found friend, "I'll get hold of the tree andthen hold you. "

Instantly he threw himself on his stomach, hooking his leg aboutthe tree trunk. I crawled out over the ledge of slippery rock tothe very edge and looked over. It was the only chance. 

The old naturalist seized my legs in his hands. I slid down therock, letting myself go. 

Literally, his presence of mind had invented what was really alife chain, a human rope. 

On came the canoe, Elaine in it as white as death, crying out andtrying to stop or guide it as, nearer and nearer through thesmooth-worn walls of the chasm, it whirled to the falls. 

With a grip of steel, the naturalist held to the tree which swayedand bent, while also he held me, as if in a vise, head down. 

On came Elaine--directly at us. 

She stood up and balanced herself, a dangerous feat in a canoe atany time, but doubly so in those dark, swirling, treacherouswaters. 

"Steady!" I encouraged. "Grab my arms!"

As the canoe reached us, she gave a little jump and seized myforearms. Her hands slipped, but I grasped her own arms, and weheld each other. 

The momentum of her body was great. For an instant I thought wewere all going over. But the naturalist held his grip and slowlybegan to pull himself and us up the slippery rock. 

A second later the canoe crashed over the falls in a cloud ofspray and pounding water. 

As we reached the bank above the rock, I almost lifted Elaine andset her down, trembling and gasping for breath. Before either ofus knew it the queer old fellow had plunged into the bushes andwas gone without another word. 

"Walter, " she cried, "call him back, I must tell him how much Iowe him--my life!"

But he had disappeared, absolutely. We shouted after him. It wasof no use. 

"Well, what do you think of that?" cried Elaine. "He saved mylife--then didn't wait even to be thanked. "

Who was he?

We looked at each other a moment. But neither of us spoke what wasin our hearts. 

CHAPTER XV

THE FLASH

Alone in the doorway before his rude shack on the shore of thepromontory sat an old fisherman, gazing out fixedly at the harboras though deeply concerned over the weather, which, as usual, wasunseasonable. 

Suddenly he started and would have disappeared into his hut butfor the fact that, although he could not himself be seen, he hadalready seen the intruder. 

It was a trooper from Fort Dale. He galloped up and, as thoughobeying to the letter his instructions, deliberately dropped anenvelope at the feet of the fisherman. Then, without a word, hegalloped away again. 

The fisherman picked up the envelope and opened it quickly. Insidewas a photograph and a note. He read:

 FORT DALE PROFESSOR ARNOLD, J. Smith, clerk in the War Department, has disappeared. We are not sure, but fear that he has a copy of the new Sandy Hook Defense Plans. It is believed he is headed your way. He walks with a slight limp. Look out for him. 

 LIEUTENANT WOODWARD. 

For a long time the fisherman appeared to study the face on thephotograph until he had it indelibly implanted in his memory, asif by some system such as that of the immortal Bertillon and hisclever "portrait parle, " or spoken picture, for scientificidentification and apprehension. It was not a pleasant face andthere were features that were not easily forgotten. 

Finally he turned and entered his hut. Hastily he took off hisstained reefer. From a wooden chest he drew another outfit ofclothes. The transformation was complete. When he issued forthfrom his hut again, it was no longer the aged disciple of IzaacWalton. He was now a trim chauffeur, bearded and goggled. 

 . . . . . . . 

In the library of his bungalow, Del Mar was pacing up and down, now and then scowling to himself, as though there flashed over hismind stray recollections of how some of his most cherished planswere miscarrying. 

Still, on the whole, he had nothing to complain of. For, a momentlater the valet entered with a telegram for which he had evidentlybeen waiting. Del Mar seized it eagerly and tore open the yellowenvelope. On the blank was printed in the usual way the followingnon-committal message:

 WASHINGTON, D. C. , August 12, 1915. 

MR. DEL MAR, What you request is coming. Answer to sign of thering. --SMITH. 

"Good, " muttered Del Mar as he finished reading. "Strange, what alittle gold will do--when you know how to dispose of it. "

He smiled cynically to himself at the sentiment. 

 . . . . . . . 

At the little railroad station, they were quite proud of the factthat at least two of the four hacks had been replaced already bytaxicabs. 

It was, then, with some surprise and not a little open jealousythat they saw a new taxicab drive up and take its stand by theplatform. 

If the chauffeur, transformed from the lonely fisherman, hadexpected a cordial reception, he might better have stayed beforehis hut, for the glances the other drivers gave him were as blackand lowering as the clouds he had been looking at. 

The new chauffeur got off his seat. Instead of trying to brazen itout, he walked over to the others who were standing in a groupwaiting for the approaching train whose whistle had alreadysounded. 

"I'm not going to locate here permanently, " he said, pulling out aroll of bills as he spoke. "Leave any fare I claim to me, " headded, passing a bill of a good denomination to each of the fourjehus. 

They looked at him curiously. But what business of theirs was it?The money felt good. 

"All right, bo, " they agreed. 

Thundering down the platform came the afternoon train, a greatevent in the town life. 

As the baggage was being tossed off, the passengers alighted andthe five hackmen swarmed at them. 

"Keb, sir, kerridge. Taxi, lady!"

From the Pullman alighted a widow, in deep mourning. As she gotoff and moved down the platform, it was apparent that she walkedwith a pronounced limp. 

At the end of the platform, the chauffeurs were still calling, while the newcomer looked over the crowd hastily. Suddenly hecaught sight of the face of the widow. He stepped forward, as sheapproached. The others held back as they had agreed and paid noattention. It was like forcing a card. 

He held the door open and she entered the cab, unsuspecting. "Mr. Del Mar's, " she directed, simply. 

As the new taxicab driver cranked his engine and climbed into theseat, he was careful to let no action of his, however small, betray the intense satisfaction he felt at the working of hisscheme. 

He pulled away from the station. On through the pretty countryroads the chauffeur drove the heavily veiled widow until at lastthey came to Del Mar's bungalow. 

At the gate he stopped and ran around to open the door to assisthis fare to alight. 

"Wait for me, " she said, without paying him yet. "I shall not belong and I want to be driven back to the station to catch the fourtwenty-nine to New York. "

As she limped up the gravel walk, he watched her closely. She wentto the door and rang the bell, and the valet admitted her. 

Del Mar was still sitting, thinking, in the library. 

"Mr. Del Mar?" she inquired. 

The voice was not exactly soft, and Del Mar eyed her suspiciously. Was this the person he expected, or a "plant?"

"Yes, " he answered, guardedly, "I am Mr. Del Mar. And you?"

The widow, too, evidently wished to make no mistake. As she spoke, she raised her hand. By that simple action she displayed a curiousand conspicuous seal ring on her finger. It was the sign of thering for which Del Mar had been waiting. 

He extended his own left hand. On the ring finger was anotherring, but not similar. As he did so, the widow took the ring fromher own finger and placed it on the little finger of Del Mar. 

"Good!" he exclaimed. 

Every action of the sign of the ring had been carried out. 

The woman raised her thick veil, disclosing the face of--a man!

It was the same face, also, that had appeared in the photographsent to the old fisherman by Woodward. 

Awkwardly, the man searched in the front of his shirtwaist anddrew forth a paper which Del Mar almost seized in his eagerness. It was a pen and ink copy of a Government map, showing a huge spitof sand in the sea before a harbor, Sandy Hook and New York. On itwere indicated all the defenses, the positions of guns, everything. 

Together, Del Mar and Smith bent over it, while the renegade clerkexplained each mark on the traitorous map. They were too occupiedto see a face flattened against the pane of a window near-by. 

The chauffeur had no intention of remaining inactive outside whilehe knew that something that interested him was transpiring inside. He had crept up by the side of the house to the window. But hecould see little and hear nothing. 

A moment he strained every sense. It was no use. He must devisesome other way. How could he get into that room? Slowly hereturned to his car, thinking it over. There he stood for a momentrevolving in his mind what to do. He looked up the road. An ideacame to him. There he saw a little runabout approaching rapidly. 

Quickly he went around to the front of his car and lifted up thehood. Then he bent over and pretended to be tinkering with hisengine. 

As the car was about to pass he deliberately stepped back, apparently not seeing the runabout, and was struck and knockeddown. 

The runabout stopped, the emergency brakes biting hard. 

 . . . . . . . 

Elaine had asked me to go shopping in the village with her thatafternoon. While I waited for her in her little car, she came downat last, carrying a little handbag. We drove off a moment later. 

It was a delightful ride, not too warm, but sunny. Withoutrealizing it, we found ourselves on the road that led past DelMar's. 

As we approached, I saw that there was a taxicab standing in frontof the gate. The hood was lifted and the driver was apparentlytinkering with his engine. 

"Let's not stop, " said Elaine, who had by this time a peculiaraversion to the man. 

As we passed the driver, apparently not seeing us, stepped outand, before we could turn out, we had knocked him down. We stoppedand ran back. 

There he lay on the road, seemingly unconscious. We lifted him upand I looked toward Del Mar's house. 

"Help!" I shouted at the top of my voice. 

The valet came to the door. 

Hearing me, the valet ran out down the walk. "All right, " hecried. "I'll be there in a minute. "

With his help I picked up the taxicab chauffeur and we carried himinto the house. 

Del Mar was talking with a person who looked like a widow, whenthey heard our approach up the walk carrying the injured man. 

So engrossed had they been in discerning what the stolen documentcontained that, as we finally entered, the widow had only time todrop her veil and conceal her identity as the renegade Smith. DelMar still held the plan in his hand. 

The valet and I entered with Elaine and we placed the chauffeur ona couch near Del Mar's desk. I remember that there was thisstrange woman all in black, heavily veiled, in the room at thetime. 

"I think we ought to telephone for a doctor, " said Elaine placingher hand-bag on the desk and excitedly telling Del Mar how we hadaccidentally knocked the man down. 

"Call up my doctor, Henry, " said Del Mar, hastily thrusting theplan into a book lying on the desk. 

We gathered about the man, trying to revive him. 

"Have you a little stimulant?" I asked, turning from him. 

Del Mar moved toward a cellarette built into the wall. We were allwatching him, our backs to the chauffeur, when suddenly he musthave regained consciousness very much. Like a flash his hand shotout. He seized the plan from between the leaves of the book. Hehad not time to get away with it himself. Perhaps he might besearched. He opened Elaine's bag, and thrust it in. 

The valet by this time had finished telephoning and spoke to DelMar. 

"The doctor will be here shortly, Miss Dodge, " said Del Mar. "Youneed not wait, if you don't care to. I'll take care of him. "

"Oh, thank you--ever so much, " she murmured. "Of course it wasn'tour fault, but I feel sorry for the poor fellow. Tell the doctorto send me the bill. "

She and Del Mar shook hands. I thought he held her hand perhaps alittle longer and a little tighter than usual. At any rate Elaineseemed to think so. 

"Why, what a curious ring, Mr. Del Mar, " she said, finallyreleasing her own hand from his grasp. 

Then she looked quickly at the woman, half joking, as if the ringhad something to do with the strange woman. She looked back at thering. Del Mar smiled, shook his head and laughed easily. 

Then Elaine picked up her bag and we went out. A moment later weclimbed back into the car and were off again. 

 . . . . . . . 

Having left us at the door, Del Mar hurried back to the library. He went straight to the desk and picked up the book, eager now tomake sure of the safety of the plan. 

It was gone!

"Did you, Smith--" he began hastily, then checked himself, knowingthat the clerk had not taken the plan. 

Del Mar walked over to the couch and stood a moment looking at thechauffeur. "I wonder who he is, " he said to himself. "I don'trecall ever seeing him at the station or in the village. "

He leaned over closer. "The deuce!" he exclaimed, "that's a fakebeard the fellow has on. "

Del Mar made a lunge for it. As he did so, the chauffeur leaped tohis feet and drew a gun. "Hands up!" he shouted. "And the firstman that moves is a dead one!"

Before the secret agent knew it, both he and Smith were covered. The chauffeur took a step toward Smith and unceremoniously jerkedoff the widow's weeds, as well as the wig. 

At that very moment one of Del Mar's men came up to the secretpanel that opened from the underground passageway into hislibrary. He was about to open it when he heard a sound on theother side that startled him. He listened a moment, then slid itjust a short distance and looked in. 

There he saw a chauffeur holding up Del Mar and Smith. Havingpulled the disguise from Smith, he went next around Del Mar andtook his gun from his pocket, then passed his hands over the foldsof Smith's dress, but found no weapon. He stepped back away fromthem. 

At that point the man quietly slid the panel all the way open andsilently stepped into the room, behind the chauffeur. Cautiouslyhe began sneaking up on him. 

As he did so, Del Mar and Smith watched, fascinated. Somehow theirfaces must have betrayed that something was wrong. For, as thenewcomer leaped at him, the chauffeur turned suddenly and fired. The shot wounded the man. 

It was a signal for a free-for-all fight. Del Mar and Smith leapedat the intruder. Over and over they rolled, breaking furniture, overturning and smashing bric-a-brac. 

Del Mar's revolver was knocked out of the chauffeur's hand. With ablow of a chair, the chauffeur laid out Smith, entangled in hisunfamiliar garments, shook himself loose from the two others, andmade a rush at the door. 

Del Mar paused only long enough to pick up the revolver from thefloor. Instantly he fired at the retreating form. But thechauffeur had passed out and banged shut the door. Down the walkhe sped and out to the gate, into his car, the engine of which hehad left running. 

Hard after him came Del Mar and the rest, joined now by Henry, thevalet. One shot was left in the chauffeur's revolver and he blazedaway as he leaped into the car. 

"He's got me, " groaned Smith as he stumbled and fell forward. 

On kept Del Mar and the others. They caught up with the car justas it was starting. But the chauffeur knocked the gun from DelMar's hand before he could get a good aim and fire, at the sametime bowling over the man who had come through the panel. 

Off the car went, now rapidly gaining speed. Del Mar had just timeto swing on the rear of it. 

Around the rapidly-driven car, he climbed, hanging on for dearlife, over the mud-guard and toward the running-board. On sped thecar, swaying crazily back and forth, Del Mar crouched on therunning-board and working his way slowly and perilously to thefront seat. 

The chauffeur felt the weight of some one on that side. Just as heturned to see what it was, Del Mar leaped at him. Still holdingthe wheel, the chauffeur fought him off with his free hand, DelMar holding on to some spare tires with one hand, also. Handicapped by having the steering-wheel to manage, neverthelessthe chauffeur seemed quite well able to give a good account ofhimself. 

 . . . . . . . 

Somehow, Elaine and I must have been hoodooed that day. 

We had not been gone five minutes from Del Mar's after theaccident to the chauffeur, when we heard a mysterious knock in theengine. 

"More engine trouble, " I sighed. "Pull up along the road and I'llsee if I can fix it. "

We stopped and both got out. There was no fake about this troubleor about the dirt and grease I acquired on my hands and face, tinkering with that motor. For, regardless of my immaculateflannels, I had to set to work. A huge spot of grease spattered onme. Elaine laughed outright. 

"Here, let me powder your nose, Walter, " she cried undismayed atour trouble, gayly opening her bag. "Well--of all things--what'sthis, and where did it come from?"

I turned from the engine and looked. She was holding some kind ofplan or document in her hand. In blank surprise she examined it. It looked like a fort or a series of forts. But I was sure at aglance that it was not Fort Dale. 

"What do you think it is, Walter?" she asked, handing it to me. 

I took it and examined it carefully. Incredible as it seemed, Ifigured out quickly that it must be nothing short of a plan of thenew defenses at Sandy Hook. 

"I don't know what it all means, " I said. "But I do know that wewon't get any dinner till I get this engine running again. "

I fell to work again, eager to get away with our dangerous prize, Elaine now and then advising me. Finally I turned the engine over. For a wonder it ran smoothly. "Well, that's all right, at last, " Isighed, wiping the grease off my hands on a piece of waste. 

"What's the matter now?" exclaimed Elaine, turning quickly andlooking up the road along which we had just come. 

There, lurching along at full speed was a car. Two men wereactually fighting on the front of it regardless of speed andsafety. As it neared us, I saw it was the taxicab that had beenstanding before Del Mar's. I looked closer at it. To my utteramazement, who should be driving it but the very chauffeur whom wehad left at Del Mar's only a few minutes before, apparentlyunconscious. He could not have been hurt very badly, for he wasnot only able to drive but was fighting off a man clinging on therunning-board. 

On rushed the car, directly at us. Just as it passed us, thechauffeur seemed to summon all his strength. He struck a powerfulblow at the man, recoiled and straightened out his car just intime. The man fell, literally at our feet. 

It was Del Mar himself!

On sped the taxicab. Bruised though he must have been by the fall, Del Mar nevertheless raised himself by the elbow and fired everychamber of his revolver as fast as he could pump the bullets. 

I must say that I admired the man's pluck. Elaine and I hurriedover to him. I still had in my hand the queer paper which she hadfound so strangely in her hand-bag. 

"Why, what's all this about?" I asked eagerly. 

Before I could raise him up, Del Mar had regained his feet. 

"Just a plain crook, who attacked me, " he muttered, brushing offhis clothes to cover up the quick recognition of what it was thatI was holding in my hand, for he had seen the plan immediately. 

"Can't we drive you back?" asked Elaine, quite forgetting ourfears of Del Mar in the ugly predicament in which he just hadbeen. "We've had trouble but I guess we can get you back. "

"Thank you, " he said, forcing a smile. "I think anything would bean improvement on my ride here and I'm sure you can do more thanyou claim. "

He climbed up and sat on the floor of the roadster, his feetoutside, and we drove off. At last we pulled up at Dodge Hallagain. 

"Won't you come in?" asked Elaine as we got out. 

"Thank you, I believe I will for a few minutes, " consented DelMar, concealing his real eagerness to follow me. "I'm all shakenup. "

As we entered the living-room, I was thinking about the map. Iopened a table drawer, hastily took the plan from my pocket andlocked it in the drawer. Elaine, meanwhile, was standing with DelMar who was talking, but in reality watching me closely. 

A smile of satisfaction seemed to flit over his face as he sawwhat I had done and now knew where the paper was. 

I turned to him. "How are you now?" I asked. 

"Oh, I'm much better--all right, " he answered. Then he looked athis watch. "I've a very important appointment. If you'll excuseme, I'll walk over to my place. Thank you again, Miss Dodge, everso kindly. "

He bowed low and was gone. 

 . . . . . . . 

Down the road past where we had turned, before a pretty littleshingle house, the taxicab chauffeur stopped. One of the bulletshad taken effect on him and his shoulder was bleeding. But theworst, as he seemed to think it, was that another shot had givenhim a flat tire. 

He jumped out and looked up the road whence he had come. No onewas following. Still, he was worried. He went around to look atthe tire. But he was too weak now from loss of blood. It had beennerve and reserve force that had carried him through. Now that thestrain was off, he felt the reaction to the full. 

Just then the doctor and his driver, whom the valet had alreadysummoned to Del Mar's, came speeding down the road. The doctor sawthe chauffeur fall in a half faint, stopped his car and ran tohim. The chauffeur had kept up as long as he could. He had nowsunk down beside his machine in the road. 

A moment later they picked him up and carried him into the house. There was no acting about his hurts now. In the house they laidthe man down on a couch and the doctor made a hasty examination. 

"How is he?" asked one of the kind Samaritans. 

"The wound is not dangerous, " replied the physician, "but he'slost a lot of blood. He cannot be moved for some time yet. "

 . . . . . . . 

We talked about nothing else at Dodge Hall after dressing fordinner but the strange events over at Del Mar's and what hadfollowed. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed to methat we would never be left over night in peaceful possession ofthe plan which both Elaine and I decided ought on the followingday to be sent to Washington. 

Accordingly I cudgelled my brain for some method of protectingboth ourselves and it. The only thing I could think of was ascheme once adopted by Kennedy in another case. How I longed forhim. But I had to do my best alone. 

I had a small quick shutter camera that had belonged to Craig andjust as we were about to retire, I brought it into the living-roomwith a package I had had sent up from the village. 

"What are you going to do?" asked Elaine curiously. 

I assumed an air of mystery but did not say, for I was not surebut that even now some one was eavesdropping. It was not late, butthe country air made us all sleepy and Aunt Josephine, looking atthe clock, soon announced that she was going to retire. 

She had no sooner said good-night than Elaine began again toquestion me. But I had determined not to tell her what I wasdoing, for if my imitation of Kennedy failed, I knew that shewould laugh at me. 

"Oh, very well, " she said finally in pique, "then, if you're goingto be so secret about it, you can sit up alone--there!"

She flounced off to bed. Sure as I could be at last that I wasalone, I opened the package. There were the tools that I hadordered, a coil of wire and some dry cells. Then I went to thetable, unlocked the drawer and put the plan in my pocket. I haddetermined that whether the idea worked or not, no one was to getthe plan except by overcoming me. 

Although I was no expert at wiring, I started to make theconnections under the table with the drawer, not a very difficultthing to do as long as it was to be only temporary and for thenight. From the table I ran the wires along the edge of the carpetuntil I came to the book-case. There, masked by the books, Iplaced the little quick shutter camera, and at a distance alsoconcealed the flash-light pan. 

Next I aimed the camera carefully and focussed it on a point abovethe drawer on the writing-table where any one would be likely tostand if he attempted to open it. Then I connected the shutter ofthe camera and a little spark coil in the flash-pan with thewires, using an apparatus to work the shutter such as I recalledhaving seen Craig use. Finally I covered the sparking device withthe flash-light powder, gave a last look about and snapped off thelight. 

Up in my bedroom, I must say I felt like "some" detective and Icould not help slapping myself on the chest for the ingenuity withwhich I had duplicated Craig. 

Then I lay down on the bed with my clothes on and picked up abook, determined to keep awake to see if anything happened. It wasa good book, but I was tired and in spite of myself I nodded overit, and then dropped it. 

 . . . . . . . 

In his bungalow, now that Smith had gone back again to New Yorkand Washington, Del Mar was preparing to keep the importantengagement he had told us about, another of his nefariousnocturnal expeditions. 

He drew a cap on his head, well over his ears and forehead. Hiseyes and face he concealed as well as he could with a mask to beput on later. To his equipment he added a gun. Then with a hastyword or two to his valet, he went out. 

By back ways so that even in the glare of automobile headlights hewould not be recognized, he made his way to Dodge Hall. As he sawthe house looming up in the moonlight he put on his mask andapproached cautiously. Gaining the house, he opened a window, noiselessly turning the catch as deftly as a house-breaker, andclimbed into the living-room. 

A moment he looked around, then tiptoed over to the table. Helooked at it to be sure that it was the right one and the rightdrawer. Then he bent down to force the drawer open. 

"Pouf!" a blinding flash came and a little metallic click of theshutter, followed by a cloud of smoke. 

As quick as it happened, there went through Del Mar's head, theexplanation. It was a concealed camera. He sprang back, clappinghis hands over his face. Out of range for a moment, he stoodgazing about the room, trying to locate the thing. 

Suddenly he heard footsteps. He dived through the window that hehad opened, just as some one ran in and switched on the lights. 

 . . . . . . . 

Half asleep, I heard a muffled explosion, as if of a flash-light. I started up and listened. Surely some one was moving about down-stairs. I pulled my gun from my pocket and ran out of the room. Down the steps I flung myself, two at a time. 

In the living-room, I switched on the lights in time to see someone disappear through an open window. I ran to the window andlooked out. There was a man, half doubled up, running around theside of the house and into a clump of bushes, then apparentlylost. I shot out of the window and called. 

My only answer was an imprecation and return volley that shatteredthe glass above my head. I ducked hastily and fell flat on thefloor, for in the light streaming out, I must have been a goodmark. 

I was not the only one who heard the noise. The shots quicklyawakened Elaine and she leaped out of bed and put on her kimono. Then she lighted the lights and ran down-stairs. 

The intruder had disappeared by this time and I had got up and waspeering out of the window as she came breathlessly into theliving-room. 

"What's the matter, Walter?" she asked. 

"Some one broke into the house after those plans, " I replied. "Heescaped, but I got his picture, I think, by this device ofKennedy's. Let's go into a dark room and develop it. "

There was no use trying to follow the man further. To Elaine'sinquiry of what I meant, I replied by merely going over to thespot where I had hidden the camera and disconnecting it. 

We went up-stairs where I had rigged up an impromptu dark room formy amateur photographic work some days before. Elaine watched meclosely. At last I found that I had developed something. As I drewthe film through the hypo tray and picked it up, I held it to thered light. 

Elaine leaned over and looked at the film with me. There was apicture of a masked man, his cap down, in a startled attitude, hishands clapped to his face, completely hiding what the mask and capdid not hide. 

"Well, I'll be blowed!" I cried in chagrin at the outcome of whatI thought had been my cleverest coup. 

A little exclamation of astonishment escaped Elaine. I turned toher. "What is it?" I asked. 

"The ring!" she cried. 

I looked again more closely. On the little finger of the left handwas a peculiar ring. Once seen, I think it was not readilyforgotten. "The ring!" she repeated excitedly. "Don't youremember--that ring? I saw it on Mr. Del Mar's hand--at his house--this afternoon!"

I could only stare. 

At last we had a real clue!

In his bungalow, Del Mar at that moment threw down his hat andtore off his mask furiously. 

What had he done?

For a long time he sat there, his chin on his hand, gazing fixedlybefore him, planning to protect himself and revenge. 

CHAPTER XVI

THE DISAPPEARING HELMETS

It was early the following morning that, very excited, Elaine andI showed Aunt Josephine the photograph which we had snapped anddeveloped by using Kennedy's trick method. 

"But who is it?" asked Aunt Josephine examining the printcarefully and seeing nothing but a face masked and with a pair ofhands before it, a seal ring on the little finger of one hand. 

"Oh, I forgot that you hadn't seen the ring before, " explainedElaine. "Why, we knew him at once, in spite of everything, by thatseal ring--Mr. Del Mar!"

"Mr. Del Mar?" repeated Aunt Josephine, looking from one to theother of us, incredulous. 

"I saw the ring at his own bungalow and on his own finger, "reiterated Elaine positively. 

But what are you going to do, now?" asked Aunt Josephine. 

"Have him arrested, of course, " Elaine replied. 

Still talking over the strange experience of the night before, wewent out on the veranda. 

"Well, of all the nerve!" exclaimed Elaine, catching sight of aman coming up the gravel walk. "If that isn't Henry, Mr. Del Mar'svalet!"

The valet advanced as though nothing had happened and, indeed, Isuppose that as far as he knew nothing had happened or was knownto us. He bowed and handed Elaine a note which she tore openquickly and read. 

"Would you go?" she asked, handing the note over to me. 

It read:

DEAR MISS DODGE, If you and Mr. Jameson will call on me to-day, I will havesomething of interest to tell you concerning my investigations inthe case of the disappearance of Craig Kennedy. 

Sincerely, M. DEL MAR. 

"Yes, " I asserted, "I would go. "

"Tell Mr. Del Mar we shall see him as soon as possible, " noddedElaine to the valet who bowed and left quickly. 

"What is it?" inquired Aunt Josephine, rejoining us. 

"A note from Mr. Del Mar, " replied Elaine showing it to her. 

"Well, " queried Aunt Josephine, "what are you going to do?"

"We're going, of course, " cried Elaine. 

"You're not, " blurted out Aunt Josephine. "Why, just think. He'ssure to do something. "

But Elaine and I had made up our minds. 

"I know it, " I interjected. "He's sure to try something that willshow his hand--and then I've got him. "

Perhaps I threw out my chest a little more than was necessary, butthen I figured that Elaine with her usual intuition had for onceagreed with me and that it must be all right. I drew my gun andtwirled the cylinder about as I spoke. Indeed I felt, since thesuccess of the snapshot episode, that I was a match for severalDel Mar's. 

"Yes, Walter is right, " agreed Elaine. 

Aunt Josephine continued to shake her head sagely in protest. ButElaine waved all her protestations aside and ran into the house toget ready for the visit. 

Half an hour later, two saddle horses were brought around to thefront of Dodge Hall and Elaine and I sallied forth. 

Aunt Josephine was still protesting against our going to DelMar's, but we had made up our minds to carry the thing through. "You know, " she insisted, "that Mr. Kennedy is not around toprotect you two children. Something will surely happen to you ifyou don't keep out of this affair. "

"Oh, Auntie, " laughed Elaine, a bit nervously, however, "don't bea kill-joy. Suppose Craig isn't about? Who's going to do this, ifWalter and I don't?"

In spite of all, we mounted and rode away. 

 . . . . . . . 

Del Mar, still continuing his nefarious work of mining Americanharbors and bridges, had arrived at a scheme as soon as hereturned from the attempt to get back from us the Sandy Hookplans. Smith, who had stolen the plans from the War Department, was still at the bungalow. 

Early in the morning, Del Mar had seated himself at his desk andwrote a letter. 

"Here, Henry, " he directed his valet, "take this to Miss Dodge. "

As the valet went out, he wrote another note. "Read that, " hesaid, handing it over to Smith. "It's a message I want you to taketo headquarters right away. "

It was worded cryptically:

A. A. L. N. Y. Closely watched. Must act soon or all will be discovered. --M. 

Smith read the note, nodded, and put it into his pocket, as hestarted to the door. 

"No, no, " shouted Del Mar, calling him back. "This thing meansthat you'll have to be careful in your getaway. You'd better goout through my secret passage, " he added, pointing to the panel inthe library wall. 

He pressed the button on the desk and Smith left through thehidden passage. Down it he groped and at the other end emerged. Seeing no one around, he made his way to the road. There seemed tobe no one who looked at all suspicious on the road, either, andSmith congratulated himself on his easy escape. 

On a bridge over a creek, however, as Smith approached, was oneinoffensive-looking person who might have been a minister or aprofessor. He was leaning on the rail in deep thought, gazing atthe creek that ran beneath him, and now and then flashing a sharpglance about. 

Suddenly he saw something approaching. Instantly he dodged to thefarther end of the bridge and took refuge behind a tree. Smithwalked on over the bridge, oblivious to the fact that he waswatched. No sooner had he disappeared than the inquisitivestranger emerged again from behind the tree. 

It was the mysterious Professor Arnold who many times had shown apeculiar interest in the welfare of Elaine and myself. 

Evidently he had recognized Del Mar's messenger, for afterwatching him a moment he turned and followed. 

At the railroad station, just before the train for New York pulledin, the waiting crowd was increased by one stranger. Smith hadcome in and taken his place unostentatiously among them. 

But if he thought he was to be lost in the little crowd, he wasmuch mistaken. Arnold had followed, but not so quickly that he hadnot had time to pick up the two policemen that the town boasted, both of whom were down at the station at the time. 

"There he is, " indicated Arnold, "the fellow with the slight limp. Bring him to my room in the St. Germain Hotel. "

"All right, sir, " replied the officers, edging their way to theplatform as Arnold retreated back of the station and disappearedup the street. 

Just then the train pulled into the station and the passengerscrowded forward to mount the steps. Smith was just about to pushhis way on with them, when the officers elbowed through the crowd. 

"You're wanted, " hissed one of them, seizing his shoulder. 

But Smith, in spite of his deformity, was not one to submit toarrest without a struggle. He fought them off and broke away, running toward the baggage-room. 

As he rushed in, they followed. One of them was gaining on him andtook a flying football tackle. The other almost fell over thetwisted mass of arms and legs. The struggle now was short andsharp and ended in the officers slipping the bracelets over thewrists of Smith. While the passengers and bystanders crowded aboutto watch the excitement, they led him off quickly. 

 . . . . . . . 

In his rooms at the St. Germain, cluttered with test tubes andother paraphernalia which indicated his scientific tendencies, Professor Arnold entered and threw off his hat, lighting acigarette and waiting impatiently. 

He had not as long to wait as he had expected. A knock sounded atthe door and he opened it. There was Smith handcuffed and forcedin by the two policemen. 

"Good work, " commended Arnold, at once setting to work to searchthe prisoner who fumed but could not resist. 

"What have we here?" drawled Arnold in mock courtesy and surpriseas he found and drew forth from Smith's pocket a bundle of papers, which he hastily ran through. 

"Ah!" he muttered, coming to Del Mar's note, which he opened andread. "What's this? 'A. A. L. N. Y. Closely watched. Must act soonor all will be discovered. M. ' Now, what's all that?"

Arnold pondered the text deeply. "You may take him away, now, " heconcluded, glancing up from the note to the officers. "Thank you. "

"All right, sir, " they returned, prodding Smith along out. 

Still studying the note, Arnold sat down at the desk. Thoughtfullyhe picked up a pencil. Under the letters A. A. L. He slowly wrote"Anti-American League" and under the initial M the name, "Martin. "

"Now is the time, if ever, to use that new telaphotographinstrument which I have installed for the War Department inWashington and carry around with me, " he said to himself, risingand going to a closet. 

He took out a large instrument composed of innumerable coils and aqueer battery of selenium cells. It was the receiver of the newinstrument by which a photograph could be sent over a telegraphwire. 

Down-stairs, in the telegraph room of the hotel, Arnold securedthe services of one of the operators. Evidently by the way theyobeyed him they had received orders from the company regardinghim, and knew him well there. 

"I wish you'd send this message right away to Washington, " hesaid, handing in a blank he had already written. 

The clerk checked it over:

 U. S. WAR DEPARTMENT, Washington, D. C. 

 Wire me immediately photograph and personal history of Martin arrested two years ago as head of Anti- American League. --ARNOLD. 

As the message was ticked off, Arnold attached his receivingtelaphotograph instrument to another wire. 

It was a matter scarcely of seconds before a message was flashedback to Arnold from Washington:

 Martin escaped from Fort Leavenworth six months ago. Thought to be in Europe. Photograph follows. 

 EDWARDS. 

"Very well, " nodded Arnold with satisfaction. "I think I know whatis going on here now. Let us wait for the photograph. "

He went over to the new selenium telaphotograph and beganadjusting it. 

Far away, in Washington, in a room in the War Department whereArnold had already installed his system for the secret governmentservice, a clerk was also working over the sending part of theapparatus. 

No sooner had the clerk finished his preparations and placed aphotograph in the transmitter than the buzzing of the receiverwhich Arnold had installed announced to him that the marvelloustransmission of a picture over a wire, one of the very newesttriumphs of science, was in progress. In the little telegraphoffice of the St. Germain, the clerks and operators crowded aboutArnold, watching breathlessly. 

"By Jove, it works!" cried one, no longer sceptical. 

Slowly a print was being evolved before their eyes as if by aspirit hand. Arnold watched the synchronizer apparatus carefullyas, point after point, the picture developed. He bent overclosely, his attention devoted to every part of the complicatedapparatus. 

At last the transmission of the photograph was completed and themachine came to rest. Arnold almost tore the print from thereceiver and held it up to examine it. 

A smile of intense satisfaction crossed his face. 

"At last!" he muttered. 

There was a photograph of the man who had been identified with thearch conspirators of two years before, Martin. Only, now he hadchanged his name and appeared in a new role. 

It was Marcus Del Mar!

 . . . . . . . 

Already, in the library of his bungalow, Del Mar had summoned oneof his trusted men and was talking to him, when Henry, the valet, reentered after his trip to see us. 

"They're coming as soon as they can, " he reported. 

Del Mar smiled a cynical smile. "Good, " he exclaimed triumphantly, then, looking about at the electric fixtures, added to the man, "Let us see where to install the thing. "

He walked over to the door and put his hand on the knob, thenpointed back at the fixtures. 

"That's the idea, " he cried. "You can run the line from thebrackets to this door-knob and the mat. How's that?"

"Very clever, " flattered the man, putting on a heavy pair ofrubber gloves. 

Taking a pair of pliers and other tools from a closet in thelibrary, he began removing the electric fixture from the wall. AsDel Mar directed, the man ran a wire from the fixture along themoulding, and down the side of a door, where he made a connection. 

In the meantime Del Mar brought out a wire mat and laid it infront of the door where any one who entered or left would be sureto step on it. The various connections made, the man placed aswitch in the concealment of a heavily-curtained window andreplaced everything as he found it. 

Thus it was that Elaine and I came at last to Del Mar's bungalow, I must admit, with some misgivings. But I had gone too far to drawback now and Elaine was more eager even than I was. We dismounted, tethered our horses and went toward the house, where I rang thebell. 

Preparations for our reception had just been completed and Del Marwas issuing his final instructions to his man, when the valet, Henry, ran in hastily. 

"They're here, sir, now, " he announced excitedly. 

"All right, I'm ready, " nodded Del Mar, turning to his man againand indicating a place back of the folds of the heavy curtains bythe window. "You get back there by that switch. Don't move--don'teven breathe. Now, Henry, let them in. "

As his valet withdrew Del Mar gazed about his library to make surethat everything was all right. Just then the valet reappeared andushered us in. 

"Good morning, " greeted Del Mar pleasantly. "I see that you got mynote and I'm glad you were so prompt. Won't you be seated?"

Both Elaine and I were endeavoring to appear at ease. But therewas a decided tension in the atmosphere. We sat down, however. DelMar did not seem to notice anything wrong. 

"I've something at last to report to you about Kennedy, " he said amoment later, clearing his throat. 

 . . . . . . . 

Aunt Josephine turned from us as Elaine and I rode off on ourhorses from Dodge Hall considerably worried. 

Then an idea seemed to occur to her and she walked determinedlyinto the house. 

"Jennings, " she called to the butler, "have the limousine broughtaround from the garage immediately. "

"Yes, ma'am, " acquiesced the faithful Jennings, hurrying out. 

It was only a few minutes later that the car pulled around beforethe door. Aunt Josephine bustled out and entered. 

"Fort Dale, " she directed the driver, greatly agitated. "Ask forLieutenant Woodward. "

Out at Fort Dale, Woodward was much astonished when an orderlyannounced that Aunt Josephine was waiting in her car to see him onvery urgent business. He ordered that she be admitted at once. 

"I hope there's nothing wrong?" he inquired anxiously, as he notedthe excitement and the worried look on her face. 

"I--I'm afraid there may be, " she replied, sitting down andexplaining what Elaine and I had just done. 

The Lieutenant listened gravely. 

"And, " she concluded, "they wouldn't listen to me, Lieutenant. Can't you follow them and keep them out of trouble?"

Woodward who had been listening to her attentively jumped up asshe concluded. "Yes, " he cried sympathetically, "I can. I'll gomyself with some of the men from the post. If they get into anyscrape, I'll rescue them. "

Almost before she could thank him, Woodward had hurried from hisoffice, followed by her. On the parade grounds were some men. Quickly he issued his orders and a number of them sprang up as hedetailed them off for the duty. It was only a moment before theyreturned, armed. An instant later three large touring cars fromthe Fort swept up before the office of Woodward. Into them thearmed men piled. 

"Hurry--to the Del Mar bungalow, " ordered the Lieutenant, jumpingup with the driver of the first car. "We must see that nothinghappens to Miss Dodge and Mr. Jameson. "

They shot away in a cloud of dust, followed hard by the other twocars, dashing at a breakneck speed over the good roads. 

In the narrow, wooded roadway near Del Mar's, Woodward halted hiscar and the soldiers all jumped out and gathered about him ashastily he issued his directions. 

"Surround the house, first, " he ordered. "Then arrest any one whogoes in or out. "

They scattered, forming a wide circle. As soon as word was passedthat the circle was completed, they advanced cautiously at asignal from Woodward, taking advantage of every concealment. 

 . . . . . . . 

Around in the kitchen back of Del Mar's, Henry, the valet, hadretired to visit one of the maids. He was about to leave when hehappened to look out of the window. 

"What's that?" he muttered to himself. 

He stepped back and peered cautiously through the window again. There he could see a soldier, moving stealthily behind a bush. 

He drew back further and thought a minute. He must not alarm us. 

Then he wrote a few words on a piece of paper and tore it so thathe could hold it in his palm. Next he hurried from the kitchen andentered the study. 

Del Mar had scarcely begun to outline to us a long andcircumstantial pseudo-investigation into what he was pleased tohint had been the death of Kennedy, when we were interrupted againby the entrance of his valet. 

"Excuse me, sir, " apologized Henry, as Del Mar frowned, then notedthat something was wrong. 

As the valet said the words, he managed surreptitiously to hand toDel Mar the paper which he had written, now folded up into a verysmall space. 

I had turned from Del Mar when the valet entered, apparently tospeak to Elaine, but in reality to throw them off their guard. 

Under that cover I was able to watch the precious pair from thetail of my eye, I saw Del Mar nod to the valet as though heunderstood that some warning was about to be conveyed. Althoughnothing was said, Del Mar was indicating by dumb show orders ofsome kind. I had no idea what it was all about but I stood readyto whip out my gun on the slightest suspicious move from either. 

"I hope you'll pardon me, Miss Dodge, " Del Mar deprecated, as thevalet retreated toward the door to the kitchen and pantry. "But, you see, I have to be housekeeper here, too, it seems. "

Actually, though he was talking to us, it was in a way thatenabled him by palming something in his hand, I fancied, to lookat it. It was, though I did not know it, the hastily scrawledwarning of the valet. 

It must have been hard to read, for I managed by a quick shift atlast to catch just a fleeting glimpse that it was a piece of paperhe held in his hand. What was it, I asked myself, that he shouldbe so secret about it? Clearly, I reasoned, it must be somethingthat was of interest to Elaine and myself. If I must act ever, Iconcluded, now was the time to do so. 

Suddenly I reached out and snatched the note from his hand. Butbefore I could read it Del Mar had sprung to his feet. 

At the same instant a man leaped out from behind the curtains. 

But I was on my guard. Already I had drawn my revolver and hadthem all covered before they could make another move. 

"Back into that corner--by the window--all of you, " I ordered, thinking thus to get them together, more easily covered. Then, handing the note, with my other hand, to Elaine, I said to her, "See what it says--quick. "

Eagerly she took it and read aloud, "House surrounded bysoldiers. "

"Woodward, " I cried. 

Still keeping them covered, I smiled quietly to myself and tookone step after another slowly to the door. Elaine followed. 

I reached the door and I remember that I had to step on a metalmat to do so. I put my hand behind me and grasped the knob aboutto open the door. 

As I did so, the man who had jumped from behind the curtainsuddenly threw down his upraised hands. Before I could fire, instantaneously in fact, I felt a thrill as though a millionneedles had been thrust into all parts of my body at onceparalyzing every muscle and nerve. The gun fell from my nervelesshand, clattering to the floor. 

The man had thrown an electric switch which had completed acircuit from the metal mat to the door-knob through my body andthen to the light and power current of high power. There I was, held a prisoner, by the electric current!

At the same instant, also, Del Mar with an oath leaped forward andseized Elaine by the arms. I struggled with the door-knob but Icould no more let go than I could move my feet off that mat. Itwas torture. 

"Henry!" called Del Mar to the valet. 

"Yes, sir. "

"Open the cabinet. Give me the helmets and the suits. "

The valet did so, bringing out a number of queer looking head-pieces with a single weird eye of glass in the front, as well asrubber suits of an outlandish design. While he was doing so, DelMar stuffed a handkerchief into Elaine's mouth to keep her quiet. 

By this time, Del Mar, as well as the man from behind the curtainsand the valet were provided with suits, and one at a time holdingElaine, the others put them on. 

Del Mar moved toward Elaine, holding an extra helmet. He strappedit on her, then started to force her into a suit. 

I struggled still, but in vain, to free myself from the door-knoband mat. It was more than I could stand, and I sank down, halfconscious. 

I revived only long enough to see that Del Mar had forced one ofthe suits on Elaine finally. Then he pressed a button hidden onthe side of his desk and a secret panel in the wall opened. Picking up Elaine he and the others hurried through into whatlooked like a dark passage and the panel closed. 

They were gone. I put forth all my remaining strength in one lastdesperate struggle. Somehow, I managed to kick the wire mat fromunder my feet, breaking the contact. 

I staggered toward the panel, but fell to the floor, unconscious. 

 . . . . . . . 

Outside, the iron ring, as Woodward had planned it, of soldierswere looking about, alert for any noise or movement. Suddenly, twoof them who had been watching the grounds attentively signalled toeach other that they saw something. 

From the shrubbery emerged a most curious and uncouth figure, allin rags, with long, unkempt hair and beard, sallow complexion, andcarrying a long staff. It might have been a tramp or a hermit, perhaps, who was making his way toward the house. 

The two soldiers stole up noiselessly, close to him. Almost beforehe knew it, the hermit felt himself seized from behind by fourpowerful arms. Escape was impossible. 

"Let me go, " he pleaded. "Can't you see I'm harming no one?"

But the captors were obdurate. "Tell it to the Lieutenant, " theyrejoined grimly forcing him to go before them by twisting hisarms, "Our orders were to seize any one entering or leaving. "

Protests were in vain. The hermit was forced to go beforeLieutenant Woodward who was just in the rear directing theadvance. 

"Well, " demanded Woodward, "what's your business?"

For an instant the hermit stood mute. What should he do? He hasreason to know that the situation must be urgent. 

Slowly he raised his beard so that Woodward could see not onlythat it was false but what his features looked like. 

"Arnold!" gasped Woodward, startled. "What brings you here? Elaineand Jameson are in the house. We have it surrounded. "

Half an hour before, in the St. Germain, Arnold had no soonerreceived the telaphotograph than he hurried up to his room. From acloset he had produced another of his numerous disguises andquickly put it on. With scant white locks falling over hisshoulders and long scraggly beard, he had made himself into averitable wild man. Then he had put on the finishing touches andhad made his way toward Del Mar's. 

A look of intense anxiety now flashed over Arnold's face as heheard Woodward's words. 

"But, " he cried, "there is an underground passage from the houseto the shore. "

"The deuce!" muttered Woodward, more alarmed now than ever. "Come, men, --to the house, " he shouted out his orders as they passed themaround the line. "Arnold, lead the way!"

Together the soldier and the strange figure rushed to the frontdoor of the bungalow. All was still inside. Heavy as it was, theybroke it down and burst in. 

"Walter, there's Walter!" cried Woodward as he saw me lying on thefloor of the study when they ran in. 

They hurried to me and as quickly as they could started to bringme around. 

"Where's Elaine?" asked the strange figure of the hermit. 

Weakly, I was able only to point to the panel. But it was enough. The soldiers understood. They dashed for it, looking for a buttonor an opening. Finding neither, they started to bang on it andbatter it in with the butts of their guns. 

It was only seconds before it was splintered to kindling. Therewas the passage. Instantly, Woodward, the hermit, and the restplunged into it utterly regardless of danger. On through thetunnel they went until at last they came, unmolested, to the end. There they paused to look about. 

The hermit pointed to the ground. Clearly there were footprints, leading to the shore. They followed them on down to the beach. 

"Look!" pointed the hermit. 

Off in the water they could now see the most curious sights. Fourstrangely helmeted creatures were wading out, each like a hugeoctopus-head, without tenacles. 

Only a few seconds before, Del Mar and his companions, carryingElaine had emerged from the secret entrance of the tunnel and haddashed for the shore of the promontory. 

Stopping only an instant to consider what was to be done, Del Marhad seen some one else emerge from the tunnel. 

"Come--we must get down there quickly, " he shouted, hurriedlyissuing orders, as all three, carrying Elaine, waded out into thewater. 

At sight of the strange figures the soldiers raised their guns anda volley of shot rang out. 

"Stop!" shouted the hermit, his hair streaming wildly as he ranbefore the guns and threw up as many as he could grasp with hisoutstretched arms. "Do you want to kill her?"

"Her?" repeated Woodward. 

All stood there, wonderingly, gazing at the queer creatures. 

What did it mean?

Slowly, they disappeared--literally under the water. 

They were gone--with Elaine!

CHAPTER XVII

THE TRIUMPH OF ELAINE

Half carrying, half forcing Elaine down into the water, Del Marand his two men, all four of the party clad in the outlandishsubmarine suits, bore the poor girl literally along the bottom ofthe bay until they reached a point which they knew to be directlyunder the entrance to the secret submarine harbor. 

Del Mar's mind was working feverishly. Though he now had in hispower the girl he both loved and also feared as the stumbling-block in the execution of his nefarious plans against America, herealized that in getting her he had been forced to betray theprecious secret of the harbor itself. 

At the point where he knew that the harbor was above him, hiddensafely beneath the promontory, he took from under his arm a floatwhich he released. Upward it shot through the water. 

Above, in the harbor, a number of his men were either on guard orlounging about. 

"A signal from the chief, " cried a sentry, pointing to the floatas it bobbed up. 

"Kick off the lead shoes, " signalled Del Mar to the others, underthe water. 

They did so and rose slowly to the surface, carrying Elaine upwith them. The men at the surface were waiting for them and helpedto pull Del Mar and his companions out of the water. 

"Come into the office, right away, " beckoned Del Mar anxiously, removing his helmet and leading the way. 

In the office, the others removed their helmets, while Del Martook the head-gear off Elaine. She stared about her bewildered. 

"Where am I?" she demanded. 

"A woman!" exclaimed the men in the harbor in surprise. 

"Never mind where you are, " growled Del Mar, plainly worried. Thento the men, he added, "We can't stay any longer. The harbor isdiscovered. Get ready to leave immediately. "

Murmurs of anger and anxiety rose from the men as Del Mar relatedbriefly between orders what had just happened. 

Immediately there was a general scramble to make ready for theescape. 

In the corner of the office, Elaine, again in her skirt andshirtwaist which the diving-suit had protected, sat open-eyedwatching the preparations of the men for the hasty departure. Somehad been detailed to get the rifles which they handed around tothose as yet unarmed. Del Mar took one as well as a cartridgebelt. 

"Guard her, " he shouted to one man indicating Elaine, "and if shegets away this time, I'll shoot you. "

Then he led the others down the ledge until he came to a submarineboat. The rest followed, still making preparations for a hastyflight. 

 . . . . . . . 

Woodward along with Professor Arnold, in his disguise as a hermit, stood for a moment surrounded by the soldiers, after thedisappearance of Elaine and Del Mar in the water. 

"I see it all, now, " cried the hermit, "the submarine, the strangedisappearances, the messages in the water. They have a secretharbor under those cliffs, with an entrance beneath the waterline. "

Hastily he wrote a note on a piece of paper. 

"Send one of your men to my headquarters with that, " he said, handing it to Woodward to read:

RODGERS, --Send new submarine telescope by bearer. You will find itin case No. 17, closet No. 3. --ARNOLD. 

"Right away, " nodded Woodward, comprehending and calling a soldierwhom he dispatched immediately with hurried instructions. Thesoldier saluted and left almost on a run. 

Then Woodward turned and with Arnold lead the men up the shore, still conferring on the best means of attacking the harbor. 

On a wharf along the shore Woodward, Arnold and the soldiersgathered, waiting for the telescope. Already Woodward had had afast launch brought up, ready for use. 

 . . . . . . . 

When Woodward, Arnold and the attacking party had discovered meunconscious in Del Mar's study, there had been no time to wait forme to regain full consciousness. They had placed me on a couch andrun into the secret passageway after Elaine. 

Now, however, I slowly regained my senses and, looking about, vaguely began to realize what had happened. 

My first impulse was to search the study, looking in all theclosets and table drawers. In a corner was a large chest, I openedit. Inside were several of the queer helmets and suits which I hadseen Del Mar use and one of which he had placed on Elaine. 

For some moments I examined them curiously, wondering what theiruse could be. Somehow it seemed to me, if Del Mar had used them inthe escape, we should need them in the pursuit. 

Then my eye fell on the broken panel. I entered it and gropedcautiously down the passageway. At the end I gazed about, tryingto discover which way they had all gone. 

At last, down on the shore, before a wharf I could see Woodward, the strange old hermit and the rest. 

I ran toward them, calling. 

 . . . . . . . 

By this time the soldier who had been sent for the submarinetelescope arrived at last, with the telescope in sections inseveral long cases. 

"Good!" exclaimed the old hermit, almost seizing the package whichthe soldier handed him. 

He unwrapped it and joined the various sections together. It was, as I have said, a submarine telescope, but after a design entirelynew, differing from the ordinary submarine telescope. It had anarm bent at right angles, with prismatic mirrors so that it wasnot only possible to see the bottom of the sea but by anadjustment also to see at right angles, or, as it were, around acorner. 

It was while he was joining this contrivance together that I cameup from the end of the secret passage down to the wharf. 

"Why, here's Jameson, " greeted Woodward. "I'm glad you're so muchbetter. "

"Where's Elaine?" I interrupted breathlessly. 

They began to tell me. 

"Aren't you going to follow?" I cried. 

"Follow? How can we follow?"

Excitedly I told of my discovery of the helmets. 

"Just the thing!" exclaimed the hermit. "Send some one back to getthem. "

Woodward quickly detached several soldiers to go with me and Ihurried back to the bungalow, while others carried the submarinetelescope to the boat. 

It was only a few minutes later that in Del Mar's own car, I droveup to the wharf again and we unloaded the curious submarinehelmets and suits. 

Quickly Woodward posted several of his men to act as sentries onthe beach, then with the rest we climbed into the launch andslipped off down the shore. 

The launch which Woodward had commandeered moved along in thegeneral direction which they had seen Del Mar and his men takewith Elaine. With the telescope over the side, we cruised aboutslowly in a circle, Arnold gazing through the eyepiece. All of uswere by this time in the diving-suits which I had brought from DelMar's, except that we had not yet strapped on the helmets. 

Suddenly Arnold raised his hand and signalled to stop the launch. 

"Look!" he cried, indicating the eyepiece of the submarinetelescope which he had let down over the side. 

Woodward gazed into the eyepiece and then I did, also. There wecould see the side of a submerged submarine a short distance away, through the cave-like entrance of what appeared to be a greatunder-water harbor. 

"What shall we do?" queried Woodward. 

"Attack it now before they are prepared, " replied the hermitdecisively. "Put on the helmets. "

All of us except those who were running the launch buckled on thehead-pieces, wrapping our guns in waterproof covers which we hadfound with the suits. 

As soon as we had finished, one after another, we let ourselvesover the side of the boat and sank to the bottom. 

On the bottom we gathered and slowly, in the heavy unaccustomedhelmets and cumbersome suits, we made our way in a body throughthe entrance of the harbor. 

Upward through the archway we went, clinging to rocks, anything, but always upward. 

As we emerged a shot rang out. One of our men threw up his armsand fell back into the water. 

On we pressed. 

 . . . . . . . 

Elaine sat in a corner of the office, mute, while the man who wasguarding her, heavily armed, paced up and down. 

Suddenly an overwhelming desire came over her to attempt anescape. But no sooner had she made a motion as though to runthrough the door than the man seized her and drove her back to hercorner. 

"Take your positions here, " ordered Del Mar to several of the men. "If you see anybody come up through the water, these hand grenadesought to settle them. "

Along the ledge the men were stationed each with a pile of thegrenades before him. 

"See!" cried one of them from the ledge as he caught sight of oneof our helmets appearing. 

The others crouched and stared. Del Mar himself hurried forwardand gazed in the direction the man indicated. There they could seeWoodward, Arnold and the rest of us just beginning to climb up outof the water. 

Del Mar aimed and fired. One of the men had thrown up his armswith a cry and fallen back into the water. 

Invaders seemed to swarm up now in every direction from the water. 

On the semi-circular ledge about one side of the harbor, Del Mar'smen were now ranged in close order near a submarine, whose hatchwas open to receive them, ready to repel the attack and ifnecessary retreat into the under-sea boat. 

They fired sharply at the figures that rose from the water. Manyof the men fell back, hit, but, in turn, a large number managed togain a foothold on the ledge. 

Led by Woodward and Arnold, they formed quickly and stripped offthe waterproof coverings of their weapons, returning the firesharply. Things were more equal now. Several of Del Mar's men hadfallen. The smoke of battle filled the narrow harbor. 

In the office Elaine listened keenly to the shots. What did it allmean? Clearly it could be nothing less than assistance coming. 

The man on guard heard also and his uncontrollable curiosity tookhim to the door. As he gazed out Elaine saw her chance. She made arush at him and seized him, wresting the rifle from his handsbefore he knew it. She sprang back just as he drew his revolverand fired at her. The shot just narrowly missed her, but she didnot lose her presence of mind. She fired the rifle in turn and theman fell. 

A little shudder ran over her. She had killed a man! But thefiring outside grew fiercier. She had no time to think. Shestepped over the body, her face averted, and ran out. There shecould see Del Mar and his men. Many of them by this time had beenkilled or wounded. 

"We can't beat them; they are too many for us, " muttered Del Mar. "We'll have to get away if we can. Into the submarine!" heordered. 

Hastily they began to pile into the open hatch. 

Just as Del Mar started to follow them, he caught sight of Elainerunning out of the office. Almost in one leap he was at her side. Before she could raise her rifle and fire he had seized it. Shemanaged, however, to push him off and get away from him. 

She looked about for some weapon. There on the ledge lay one ofthe hand grenades. She picked it up and hurled it at him, but hedodged and it missed him. On it flew, landing close to thesubmarine. As it exploded, another of Del Mar's men toppled overinto the water. 

Between volleys, Woodward, Arnold and the rest pulled off theirhelmets. 

"Elaine!" cried Arnold, catching sight of her in the hands of DelMar. 

Quickly, at the head of such men as he could muster, the hermitled a charge. 

In the submarine the last man was waiting for Del Mar. As thehermit ran forward with several soldiers between Del Mar and thesubmarine, it was evident that Del Mar would be cut off. 

The man at the hatch climbed down into the boat. It was useless towait. He banged shut and clamped the hatch. Slowly the submarinebegan to sink. 

Del Mar by this time had overcome Elaine and started to run towardthe submarine with her. But then he stopped short. 

There was a queer figure of a hermit leading some soldiers. He wascut off. 

"Back into the office!" he growled, dragging Elaine. 

He banged shut the door just as the hermit and the soldiers made arush at him. On the door they battered. But it was in vain. Thedoor was locked. 

In the office Del Mar hastily went to a corner, after barring thedoor, and lifted a trap-door in the floor, known only to himself. 

Elaine did not move or make any attempt to escape, for Del Mar inaddition to having a vicious looking automatic in his hand kept awatchful eye on her. 

Outside the office, the soldiers, led by the hermit and Woodwardcontinued to batter at the door. 

"Now--go down that stairway--ahead of me, " ordered Del Mar. 

Elaine obeyed tensely, and he followed into his emergency exit, closing the trap. 

"Beat harder, men, " urged the hermit, as the soldiers battered atthe door. 

They redoubled their efforts and the door bent and swayed. 

At last it fell in under the sheer weight of the blows. 

"By George--he's gone--with Elaine, " cried the hermit, looking atthe empty office. 

Feverishly they hunted about for a means of escape but could findnone. 

"Pound the floor and walls with the butts of your guns, " orderedArnold. "There must be some place that is hollow. "

They did so, going over all inch by inch. 

Meanwhile, through the passage, along a rocky stairway, Del Marcontinued to drive Elaine before him, up and ever up to the levelof the land. 

At last Elaine, followed by Del Mar, emerged from the rockypassage in a cleft in the cliffs, far above the promontory. 

"Go on!" he ordered, forcing her to go ahead of him. 

They came finally to a small hut on a cliff overlooking the realharbor. 

"Enter!" demanded Del Mar. 

Still meekly, she obeyed. 

Del Mar seized her and before she knew it had her bound andgagged. 

Down in the little office our men continued to search for thesecret exit. 

"Here's a place that gives an echo, " shouted one of them. 

As he found the secret trap and threw it open, the hermit strippedoff the cumbersome diving-suit and jumped in, followed byWoodward, myself and the soldiers. 

Upward we climbed until at last we came to the opening. There wepaused and looked about. Where was Del Mar? Where was Elaine? Wecould see no trace of them. 

Finally, however, Arnold discovered the trail in the grass and wefollowed him, slowly picking up the tracks. 

 . . . . . . . 

Knowing that the submarine would cruise about and wait for him, Del Mar decided to leave Elaine in the hut while he went out andsearched for a boat in which to look for the submarine. 

Coming out of the hut, he gazed about and moved off cautiously. Stealthily he went down to the shore and there looked up and downintently. 

A short distance away from him was a pier in the process ofconstruction. Men were unloading spiles from a cable car that ranout on the pier on a little construction railway, as well as othermaterial with which to fill in the pier. At the end of the docklay a power-boat, moored, evidently belonging to some oneinterested in the work on the pier. 

The workmen had just finished unloading a car full and wereclimbing back on the empty car, which looked as if it had oncebeen a trolley. As Del Mar looked over the scene of activity, hecaught sight of the powerboat. 

"Just what I want, " he muttered to himself. "I must get Elaine. Ican get away in that. "

The workmen signalled to the engineer above and the car ran up thewharf and up an incline at the shore-end. 

The moment the car disappeared, Del Mar hurried away in thedirection he had come. 

At the top of the grade, he noticed, was a donkey engine whichoperated the cable that drew the car up from the dock, and at thetop of the incline was a huge pile of material. 

The car had been drawn up to the top of the grade by this time. There the engineer who operated the engine stopped it. 

Just then the whistle blew for the noon hour. The men quit workand went to get their dinner pails, while the engineer started todraw the fire. Beside the engine, he began to chop some wood, while the car was held at the top of the grade by the cable. 

 . . . . . . . 

In our pursuit we came at last in sight of a lonely hut. Evidentlythat must be a rendezvous of Del Mar. But was he there? Was Elainethere? We must see first. 

While we were looking about and debating what was the best thingto do, who should appear hurrying up the hill but Del Mar himself, going toward the hut. 

As we caught sight of him, Arnold sprang forward. Woodward and I, followed by the soldiers also jumped out. 

Del Mar turned and ran down the hill again with us after him, infull cry. 

While we had been waiting, some of the soldiers had deployed downthe hill and now, hearing our shouts, turned, and came up again. 

Beside his engine, we could see an engineer chopping wood. Hepaused now in his chopping and was gazing out over the bay. Suddenly he had seen something out in the water that had attractedhis attention and was staring at it. There it moved, nothing lessthan a half-submerged submarine. 

As the engineer gazed off at it, Del Mar came up, unseen, behindhim and stood there, also watching the submarine, fascinated. 

Just then behind him Del Mar heard us pursuing. He looked about aswe ran toward him and saw that we had formed a wide circle, withthe men down the hill, that almost completely surrounded him. There was no chance for escape. It was hopeless. 

But it was not Del Mar's nature to give up. He gave one lastglance about. There was the trolley car that had been convertedinto a cable way. It offered just one chance in a thousand. Suddenly his face assumed an air of desperate determination. 

He sprang toward the engineer and grappled with him, seeking towrest the axe from his hand. Every second counted. Our circle wasnow narrowing down and closing in on him. 

Del Mar managed to knock out the engineer, taken by surprise, justas our men fired a volley. In the struggle, Del Mar was unharmed. Instead he just managed to get the axe. 

An instant later a leap landed him on the cable car. With a blowof the axe he cut the cable. The car began to move slowly down thehill on the grade. 

Some of the men were down below in its path. But the onrushingcable car was too much for them. They could only leap aside tosave themselves. 

On down the incline, gathering momentum every second, the cardashed, Del Mar swaying crazily but keeping his footing. Wefollowed as fast as we could, but it was useless. 

Out on the wharf it sped at a terrific pace. At the end itliterally catapulted itself into the water, crashing from the endof the pier. As it did so, Del Mar gave a flying leap out into theharbor, struck the water with a clean dive and disappeared. 

On down the hill we hurried. There in the water was Del Marswimming rapidly. Almost before we knew it, we saw him raise hishand and signal, shouting. 

There only a few yards away was the periscope of a submarine. Aswe watched, we could see that it had seen him, had turned in hisdirection. Would they get him?

We watched, fascinated. Some of our men fired, as accurately asthey could at a figure bobbing so uncertainly on the water. 

Meanwhile the submarine approached closer and rose a bit so thatthe hatchway cleared the waves. It opened. One of the foreignagents assisted Del Mar in. 

He had escaped at last!

 . . . . . . . 

It was most heart-breaking to have had Del Mar so nearly in ourgrasp and then to have lost him. We looked from one to another, indespair. 

Only Arnold, in his disguise as a hermit, seemed undiscouraged. Suddenly he turned to Woodward. 

"What time is it?" he asked eagerly. 

"A little past noon. "

"The Kennedy wireless torpedo!" he exclaimed. "It arrived to-day. Burnside is trying it out. "

Suddenly there flashed over me the recollection of the marvellousinvention that Kennedy had made for the Government just before hisdisappearance, as well as the memory of the experience I had hadonce with the intrepid Burnside. 

Woodward's face showed a ray of interest and hope in theoverwhelming gloom that had settled on us all. 

"You and Jameson go to Fort Dale, quick, " directed Arnold eagerly. "I'm not fit. Get Burnside. Have him bring the torpedo in the air-boat. "

We needed no further urging. It was a slender chance. But Ireflected that the submarine could not run through the bay totallysubmerged. It must have its periscope in view. We hurried away, leaving Arnold, who slowly mounted the hill again. 

How we did it, I don't know, but we managed to get to the Fort inrecord time. There near the aeroplane hangar, sure enough, wasBurnside with some other men adjusting the first real wirelessKennedy torpedo, the last word in scientific warfare, making anaerial torpedo-boat. 

We ran up to the hangar calling to Burnside excitedly. It was onlya moment later, that he began to issue orders in his sharpstaccato. His men swarmed forward and took the torpedo from thespot where they had been examining it, adjusting it now beneaththe hydroaeroplane. 

"Jameson, you come with me, " he asked. "You went before. "

We rose quickly from the surface and planed along out over theharbor. Far off we could see the ripple from the periscope of thesubmarine that was bearing Del Mar away. Would Kennedy's inventionfor which Del Mar had dared so much in the first place prove hisfinal undoing? We sped ahead. 

Down below in the submersible Del Mar was giving hasty orders tohis men, to dip down as soon as all the shipping and the sand barswere cleared. 

I strained my eyes through the glasses reporting feverishly toBurnside what I saw so that he could steer his course. 

"There it is, " I urged. "Keep on--just to the left. "

"I see it, " returned Burnside a moment later catching with hisnaked eye the thin line of foam on the water left by theperiscope. "Would you mind getting that torpedo ready?" hecontinued. "I'll tell you just what to do. They'll try to duck assoon as they see us, but it won't be any use. They can't gettotally submerged fast enough. "

Following Burnside's directions I adjusted the firing apparatus ofthe torpedo. 

"Let it go!" shouted Burnside. 

I did so, as he volplaned down almost to the water. The torpedofell, sank, bobbed up, then ran along just tinder the surface. Already I was somewhat familiar with the wireless device thatcontrolled it, so that while Burnside steadied the aircraft Icould direct it, as he coached me. 

The submarine saw it coming now. But it was too late. It could notturn; it could not submerge in time. 

A terrific explosion followed as the torpedo came in contact withthe boat, throwing a column of water high in the air. A yawninghole was blown in the very side of the submarine. One could seethe water rush in. 

Inside, Del Mar and his men were now panic-stricken. Some of themdesperately tried to plug the hole. But it was hopeless. Othersfell, fainting, from the poisonous gases that were developed. 

Of them all, Del Mar's was the only cool head. 

He realized that all was over. There was nothing left to do butwhat other submarine heroes had done in better causes. He seized apiece of paper and hastily wrote:

 Tell my emperor I failed only because Craig Kennedy was against me. --DEL MAR. 

He had barely time to place the message in a metal float near-by. Down the submarine, now full of water, sank. 

With his last strength he flung the message clear of the wreckageas it settled on the mud on the bottom of the bay. 

Burnside and I could but stare in grim satisfaction at the end ofthe enemy of ourselves and our country. 

 . . . . . . . 

Up the hillside plodded Professor Arnold still in his wilddisguise as the hermit. Now and then he turned and cast an anxiousglance out over the bay at the fast disappearing periscope of thesubmarine. 

Once he paused. That was when he saw the hydroaeroplane withBurnside and myself carrying the wireless torpedo. 

Again he paused as he plodded up, this time with a gasp, ofextreme satisfaction. He has seen the water-spout and heard theexplosion that marked the debacle of Del Mar. 

The torpedo had worked. The most dangerous foreign agent of thecoalition of America's enemies was dead, and his secrets had gonewith him to the bottom of the sea. Perhaps no one would ever knowwhat the nation had been spared. 

He did not pause long, now. More eagerly he plodded up the hill, until he came to the hut. 

He pushed open the door. There lay Elaine, still bound. Quickly hecut the cords and tore the gag from her mouth. 

As he did so, his own beard fell off. He was no longer the hermit. Nor was he what I myself had thought him, Arnold. 

"Craig!" cried Elaine in eager surprise. 

Kennedy said not a word as he grasped her two hands. 

"And you were always around us, protecting Walter and me, " shehalf laughed, half cried hysterically. "I knew it--I knew it!"

Kennedy said nothing. His heart was too happy. 

"Yes, " he said simply, as he gazed deeply into her great eyes, "mywork on the case is done. "

THE END